“We started off with the ambition of Wout [van Aert] trying to get in the red jersey today. There was a nice opportunity to attack in the finale, and Wout was really keen to do that. We had that plan. And then I was always gonna be in the background to do the sprint in case that kind of settled. And that’s exactly what happened. The guys sat up in front, and Christophe [Laporte] did a great job guiding me through the hecticness. I’m super happy to finish it off.
Hopefully it’s not my last victory in a Grand Tour! Because it is nice. The boys went all day really well. They really gave it 100%, believing in both of us so we could achieve something successful today. I can’t be more thankful. I’m really happy to start off this way.”
