Ampler Development Team took part of the Croatian UCI 2nd category stage race called Istrian Trophy (11-14.03.2021). The race didn't go as well as planned from the beginning on, but at least the boys finished it on a good note.
During the first stage we had a bit of mishap in the final with crashes and Antti's and Gleb's attacks in the final were full of courage, but there wasn't any success. Antti finished 16th of the first day finally.
On the second hillier stage Ampler Development Team's leader Antti Jussi Juntunen didn't just have the legs. "Boys helped me a lot today and I was well positioned going into the climbs, but it was just a really bad day for me. I didn't have the needed power today and the good feelings wheren't there," he confessed after crossing the finish on 49th position.
The team went to the start of the last day with the plan to help Kristers Ansons in the final, but Kristers lost the wheel of his friends in the cold, wet and slippery conditions. So, boys finished as they could in that hectic sprint and Pauls was finally 8th, Antti Jussi 10th and Gleb 13th. They were all happy to finish at the front of the race and even more happy to get to the warm team bus as they had to suffer a lot during the day.
"It was important that we get this experience from this stage race and see where we are. It didn't work out so well during the first days, but at least we saw that the boys were competitive also during the last stage in these extreme conditions. It means that they have trained correctly and they should be ready for the long season ahead of them," explained Ampler Development Team's manager Rene Mandri.
Photo: @TeamAmper