ORLEN Race of Nations. Francesco Busato wins the third stage. The Poles are away again
Italian Francesco Busato won the third stage of the ORLEN Tour of Nations, which was held in Slovakia. The second place was won by the Slovenian Gal Glivar and the third by the Spanish channel Carlos. The best of the Poles, Marek Cabela, finished 23rd. Dane Nikolaj Mengele remained the leader of the general classification. France leads the team classification.
During the third stage, the cyclists had to cover 124 kilometers starting in Levoca and finishing uphill at 1,347 meters in Štrbské Pleso.
About 15 kilometers away, Jakub Misialik from Tarnovia Tarnowo Podgorje decided to attack. At one point, the pole had a 30-second advantage over the peloton, but the escape attempt was quickly eliminated. In the 30th kilometer he attacked the American Cole Kessler, who finished third during the first stage in Hungary. His advantage grew with every kilometer. Norwegian Casper Hugo decided to try to catch up with the US representative. At the 38th kilometer, his loss to the leader was 40 seconds, and he had a 50-second advantage over the peloton.
Cole Kessler did not intend to slow down, he was increasing his advantage over the chasing competitor and the peloton. Just before the 50th kilometer, his advantage over the Norwegian was 50 seconds, and 3 minutes over the rest of the field. On the 50th kilometer of the road is the characteristic mountain resort of Bukovina. The American won the first reward at this year’s Tour of Nations, but Casper Hugo caught up to him shortly thereafter. The difference between the leading duo on the peloton was 3 minutes 20 seconds.
After 90 kilometers, the lead had shrunk to 2 minutes 20 seconds, and the peloton was still making up for losses in the following kilometres. With 28 kilometers to go to the finish line, the breakaway filtered out as the weather deteriorated and rain fell.
On the final ascent at Lake Szczerbskie, representatives of, among others, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Spain decided to attack. Spaniard Diego Yuriarte gained a 15-second advantage in the final kilometres, but was trapped against the peloton just before the finish line. In the end, the Italian Francesco Busato won, the second was the Slovenian Gal Glivar, and the third was the Spanish Carlos Canal. The best of the Poles, Marek Cabela, finished 23rd.
Dane Nikolaj Mengele remained the leader of the general classification. France leads the team classification.
For the first time, the ORLEN Race of Nations is being held in three countries in five stages: Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. 25 cycling teams from 22 countries are taking part in the competition, for example Hungary, Latvia, Portugal, Slovenia and the USA as well as three Polish teams invited by Team Lang: Lubelskie Perła Polski Cycling Team, GKS Cartusia in the Kartusi Cycling Atelier and Tarnovia Cycling Club.
The competition takes place from May 24 to 28, the honorary sponsor of the event is PKN ORLEN. This year’s edition is the most numerous of all the curated editions to date. The U23 race expands its boundaries and becomes a global event.
