Matthew Riccitello climbs to first pro victory in Sibiu Cycling Tour
IPT is on a roll in Sibiu Cycling Tour with Matthew Riccitello winning Friday’s stage 2 after an impressive performance on the final climb, taking his first professional victory.
With Riley Pickrell starting the day in the yellow jersey, after his victory in yesterday’s opening stage, the team moral was high from the start already. Riccitello was eager to put his mark on today’s stage and the early breakaway was never allowed a gap of more than three minutes.
“I felt really good and I was definitely confident I could do well on the final climb”, Riccitello said after crossing the line. “Winning is never easy but the team was just phenomenal today. They all did a perfect job before and on the climb.”
On the early slopes of the final climb, Chris Froome hit the front of the peloton and thinned out the group significantly. The multiple Tour de France winner set a furious pace and after a hard final push, he pulled off, which was Riccitello’s clue to attack.
“Froomey said he still had something left in the tank, so I told him to go as hard as he could for as long as he could. He told me he would ramp it up before he pulled off, so I knew what was happening when he upped the pace. I figured it would be a good moment to attack and thin out the group even more.”
Initially, two other riders managed to follow Riccitello’s move, but with five kilometers left to go, the 23-year-old American launched another attack and this time, nobody was able to respond. Riccitello soloed away to take the victory and the overall race lead.
“I knew I had good legs but the gradients weren’t super steep so I also knew that I had to get away alone, as you would get too much of an advantage staying the wheels. The final two kilometers were hard but I gave all I had and I’m super happy to take this victory.”
Riccitello now leads Sibiu Cycling Tour by 24 seconds ahead of David de la Cruz [Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team] ahead of tomorrow’s mountain stage to Păltiniș Arena.
