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Tour of Szeklerland 2009

Date range:
August 7- 9, 2009

August 7, Stage 1: Csíkszereda 192km

Popkov solos to stage 1 win

By:
Laszlo Szilasi
Published:
August 8, 2009, 22:02,
Updated:
August 9, 2009, 11:16

Nasty weather splits up peloton early

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The 3rd Tour of Szeklerland (UCI 2.2) started on Friday (7th of August) with its queen stage, a 192 km long hilly run, with four categorised climbs in the most beautiful regions of Szeklerland. 127 riders took the start from Csíkszereda in pouring rain and cold temperatures.

Right after the start the peloton split apart and a 9-man group formed, including the Hungarian champion István Cziráki (Betonexpressz 2000 –Limonta), former Tour de France competitor, Aurelian Passeron (Tusnad Cycling Team), Luka Rakusa (Motomat Delo Revije), Tomas Okrouhlicky and Ondrej Zelinka (both AC Sparta Praha), and Ukranian Vitalij Popkov (ISD-Donyeck).

The peloton never reached the front group again, whom shared the worked until the 30 k to go banner, where Popkov attacked his compatriots. As the Ukranian powered to the stage win, the cheasers of 8 was divided in 2 groups on the day's last climb, 16 k from the finish.

At the end Popkov won the stage with 1 minute margin ahead of the others, Cziráki took second, and Rakusa arrived in third place.

Results
1 Vitalij Popkov (Ukr) ISD Sports Donyeck    
2 Cziráki István (Hun) Betonexpressz 2000-Limonta    
3 Luka Rakusa (Slo) Motomat Delo Revije    
General classification after stage 1
1 Vitalij Popkov (Ukr) ISD Sports Donyeck    
2 Luka Rakusa (Slo) Motomat Delo Revije    
3 Cziráki István (Hun) Betonexpressz 2000-Limonta