The Bull of Buja wins on his season debut after echelons split the bunch
How it happened
The set up for Lidl-Trek’s first win of the season began early, as the boys in the red-blue-yellow surged to the front with 42km to the finish and helped to split the peloton in the desert cross winds. As a gap was established in the chaos of the echelons, Lidl-Trek were represented in the front with sprinter Milan, supported by Scandinivian strength in Jakob Söderqvist and Kristian Egholm.
From that point, there were no easy moment for the leaders nor the peloton. The gap exceeded 40 seconds at times, but the peloton rallied, even bringing the gap below 10 seconds in the closing kilometers. As Lidl-Trek tried to set up a sprint finish, Timo de Jong (Team Picnic Post NL) made his move early, forcing and acceleration from Söderqvist. The Dutchman was caught in the final 300 meters, leaving Milan to sprint to the win ahead of Fretin and Moschetti.
I am just super happy to start the new season this way!
(Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
(Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
The winner’s words
“In the end it honestly was tougher than I was expecting. I was expecting some echelons, but it was very tough. I thought that the group behind us would catch us. We had to push a lot to stay in front. My teammates did an impressive effort for me, and I am very happy with them. Kristian and Jakob really helped me in the front. I have to say thank you to all my teammates who helped me during the stage.
I don’t have many other words than: I am just super happy! In the end, the sprint was a bit tricky. When you’re not that many in the front, you can expect everything. You always have to be careful with a little group of three or four riders that attack and then you’re not able to catch them anymore. But the guys were really good in holding the group together. They just delivered me in a perfect position to win. Everything came back together and I thought the big group would catch us in the front.
My teammates did a great effort for me, and I am super happy with them. We have some other nice stages, starting with tomorrow. I am very happy and looking forward to tomorrow.”
