site.btaItalian Cyclist Matteo Malucelli Wins First Stage of Tour of Bulgaria

Italian cyclist Matteo Malucelli, riding for JCL Team UKYO, won the first stage of the 71st Tour of Bulgaria on Sunday.

In the prologue on Saturday, Malucelli came in second, and the next day he wore the violet jersey. He showed that sprinting is his greatest strength as it brought him the first-stage victory. He took the 161.5 km distance from Sofia to Troyan in 4:07:03 hrs. His time was equalled by another Italian, Filippo Tagliani, riding for Vini Monzon, who placed second. Third place went to Slovakia's Matus Stocek (ATT Investments), who could not match up to the pace set by the two Italians.

Malucelli's success put him at the top of the overall standings, where he enjoys a lead of 7 sec over Tagliani and 9 sec over Stocek. Bulgaria's Martin Papanov (Tzar Simeon) is in fourth place, 11 sec behind Malucelli.

A group of four cyclists broke away from the main pack at the beginning of the first stage to lead the race for almost 100 km. Bulgarian Lachezar Angelov (Vitosha), who was among the breakaways, was the first to take four out of five uphill stretches. The last uphill stretch, Beklemeto, proved decisive for the outcome of the first-stage race. A group of about 40 cyclists charged forth, but in the descent to Troyan the group split in two.

The Bulgarians who placed best in the first stage were Martin Papanov (Tzar Simeon) and Borislav Malashev (Hemus Troyan), who came in 12th and 16th, respectively, a second behind the winner. Another representative of the host country, Emil Stoynev (Vitosha), who started the first-stage race wearing the yellow jersey as an overall leader, arrived in Troyan 2:37 min after the stage winner.

The first stage of the Tour of Bulgaria started in front of the National Assembly in Sofia, where it was kicked off by Youth and Sports Minister Georgi Glushkov. The tour continues on Monday with the second stage from Troyan to Kazanlak, which is 108.3 km long.