Filip Maciejuk wins L'Etoile d'Or
Great news from France! Leopard Pro Cycling's Polish youngster Filip Maciejuk (21) has won the highly-rated UCI Nations Cup race L'Etoile d'Or as part of the Polish National Team.
The race summarized
It was only the second edition of the L'Etoile d'Or. This UCI Nations Cup race in the middle of France was cancelled in 2020 and only a one-day-race back in 2019. However, this year the race consisted of three stages in two days with an individual time trial to start things off with. Coming off the back of a second place in the Polish Elite National Time Trial Championships, Filip Maciejuk was very motivated to give his all on the 9.6 kilometers long route. With a time of 11'49", he went into the second stage of the day with an advantage of respectively six and eleven seconds on his first challengers.
The second stage was a 142 kilometer long one and had a profile with many up- and downhill roads. As one can expect, the race was far from easy and smaller groups all over the place reached the finish line in Le Blanc. Italian Filippo Baroncini won solo, just before a three-men chasing group of which Leopard's Tim Torn Teutenberg was the fastest: second. Three seconds later also the main 'bunch' crossed the line with again a Leopard Pro Cycling rider - the 20-year-old Luxembourger Cedric Pries - as first to cross the line. Thanks to his Polish teammates, Filip Maciejuk was able to retain his lead in the overall classification.
Today, the third and final stage took place from and to Montmorillon. With small differences in the GC, all ingredients for a big battle were there. In the first part of the race, Maciejuk unfortunately had a crash, but he was able to come back after a twenty kilometer long chase. When different attacks took place in the late final of the stage, the Polish leader was always in a very good position and it quickly became clear that his leaders jersey was safe. The stage ended in a bunch sprint finish won by Frenchman Paul Penhoët, and with Tim Torn Teutenberg - in the jersey of the German National Team - as first Leopard rider to cross the line in fourteenth place.
Result L'Etoile d'Or (UCI 2.Ncup)
1. Filip Maciejuk (POL)
15. Tim Torn Teutenberg (GER) + 0'37"
30. Cedric Pries (LUX) + 0'56"
37. Mats Wenzel (LUX) + 1'14"
63. Loïc Bettendorff (LUX) + 8'07"
Next races?
21-25.07 | Tour Alsace (FRA) | UCI 2.2
25.09 | GP Pérenchies (FRA) | UCI 1.2
Photographers
(c) Cassandra Donne
Filip Maciejuk, L'Etoile d'Or winner
"I started the race with the goal to ride a good time trial and then see what the race would bring in the following stages. I am very happy and proud that I won the TT, it is truly an important win for me. Thanks to my Polish teammates, I was able to keep the jersey as they controlled the race for me and I only had to follow their wheels. I started the last stage with great motivation to fight until the end and it all worked out, despite my crash. This win is one of the biggest successes of my still early career and I want to thank Leopard Pro Cycling, my teammates, staff, family and coaches for always believing in me even tough the last two years were not my best. I feel really motivated now to keep this good feeling with nice results."
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