Mark Donovan seized the overall victory of the 2023 edition of the Sibiu Cycling Tour this Sunday, July 9th securing his first win as a pro and the very first GC victory for Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team. 

The 24-year-old Brit started the closing 3.3km ITT in second overall, just 2 seconds off his teammate Matteo Badilatti who wore the leader’s yellow jersey. Donovan powered his SCOTT Foil to a strong 5th place in the urban epilogue, claiming the GC win by eight seconds, ahead of Lennert van Eetvelt.  

After great performances on the mountainous stage 2 and 3, where he finished 3rd and 4th, respectively, Donovan went into the final day of competition in the Romanian race with high ambitions and, after successfully concluding Stage 4a safely in the peloton, he turned his focus to the closing race against the clock in downtown Sibiu. 

The technical parcours, with no less than 15 corners in just over three kilometres, included sectors of cobblestones, and Donovan did exceptionally well to finish in the top-5, thereby securing the overall win.

“I’m not really used to this sort of effort. I had never done a time-trial like this. It was very technical but I think all the corners really helped me. It was really touch and go on who was going to win. I was two seconds behind Matteo (Badilatti) and just three seconds ahead of Jakub Otruba so I had to really push. We knew going into the final stage it was going to be really close, so we had to give it everything.” said Donovan after his time trial.

After a good altitude training block and a great showing at the British National Road Championships Donovan came into his maiden Sibiu Tour as one of the team’s appointed leaders and alongside Badilatti put in two solid performances in the hilly stages. 

“It’s the first victory of my career as a pro. Last time I won was back in 2018 as an under-23 in Giro Valle d’Aosta so It’s great to be on the top spot of the podium again. It’s been an amazing week, the team has been brilliant this whole time and it was nice to finish it off today with this win. I’ll never forget this race. It’s the first victory of my career and that’s something that will always stay with me! I’m really. really happy. Massive thanks to the team, not just in this race but every race leading up to Sibiu Tour. It’s always a great atmosphere and that allows me to go into these sort of races with confidence and fight for the win.” concluded Donovan.

Matteo Badilatti, who was second on stage 2 and went into the yellow jersey after stage 3, did his best in the epilogue but, ultimately, had to settle for 4th place in the final GC, just 8 seconds off the podium.

To cap off a successful week in Romania, Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team also secured the win in the Teams Classification, showcasing the collective strength in depth.