“This is perhaps the biggest victory in my career and certainly a big step towards the overall victory, but we still have work to do”, said Pjotr Pekala after winning the third stage of the “Belgrade – Banja Luka” race.
Source: Belgrade-Banjaluka race/Promo
With a fantastic ride from Višegrad to Jahorina, team member Santik Vibateh, Pjotr Okay won the third stage of the race “Belgrade – Banja Luka”, and took the leader’s shirt in the general classification.
The Pole overcame the most difficult stage of the race in four hours, 52 minutes and 19 seconds, leaving behind Mihael Štajnar from Sava (33 seconds), while Davide Toneati from Astana arrived third on the plateau, Poljice, who was 35 seconds late.
Cyclists were greeted by a few flakes of snow on the Olympic beauty, but that didn’t stop them from giving their all, and Pekal has the most reason to be satisfied, who with his fantastic ride secured the blue shirt for the most colorful mountain rider.
“It’s a fantastic feeling to celebrate on such a demanding stage. This is perhaps the biggest victory in my career and certainly a big step towards the overall victory, but we still have work to do. It was very difficult in the last 10, 11 kilometers on the memorial towards Jahorina, but I managed to break away and celebrate,” said Pekala.
The red shirt was kept by Anton Albrecht from Benoti, while the best young driver is Jaka Marolt, a member of Sava from Kranj.
On Sunday, the last stage from Doboj to Banja Luka is scheduled. The start of the stage is at 12 o’clock, and the cyclists enter the largest city of Srpska around 3 o’clock.