Today’s stage marked the kick-off of the 2021 edition of the Ronde de l’Isard. We have been always ready to score in the first stage of the race as for the past three years, Stevie Williams, Kaden Groves and Wessel Krul came into the finish line in the first position and went on to wear the yellow jersey. Today the story was no different and Marco Frigo kept the streak going wins a super solo victory after spending the day in the breakaway. 

The initial move of the day featured a total of four riders, with Marco Frigo being infiltrated in a 4-man group as well behind. Both groups joined and were caught up for yet another chasing trio featuring Milan Paulus. The leading 11 got up to three minutes before the bunch started to pick up and the pace. It was not enough as the group got into the last 10 km of the day over the 1-minute gap. Into the final part of the day, Marco Frigo launched an attack that could not be matched by any of his companions and rolled solo into the finish line with the closer chaser being 28 seconds behind. Milan Paulus came in seventh whereas Corbin Strong dominated the bunch sprint which accounted for tenth in the day. 

Today’s win powers Marco Frigo all the way to the top of the overall standings and thanks to the bonus second Milan Paulus sits in fifth place 35″ down on the Italian climber.

Ioannis Tamouridis, Performance Manager and Academy DS for the race:
“With Marco in front alone, it was not the best for us but after Milan joined the group that became a different situation. We were working hard to give Marco an edge from stage 1 and to already have an advantage over his rivals. Once the gap was that big, we could play for the win and his attack, in the end, was just unmatchable and Milan covered it perfectly in the chasing group. This is just the start, but we could not have done it better”.