Michael Albasini sprinted to victory on stage four of Paris-Nice yesterday.

Part of a small group that formed on the descent of the final categorized climb, the Swiss rouleur perfectly timed his acceleration to take his 25th professional victory, the eighth win of the season for ORICA-GreenEDGE.

“I actually wasn’t sure of my condition when I came here,” admitted Albasini. “I was feeling good, but we couldn’t race Lugano and my last race before that was three weeks ago last Wednesday. Without racing, it’s hard to understand what’s going on with your body. I’m super happy to start the season with an early, important win. I’m a bit surprised, too.”

“At the end, there was a roundabout 500 metres or so from the finish,” noted Albasini. “There were two guys about 50 metres ahead at that point. They started sprinting, and I knew I had to go. If I didn’t, it would have been too late. I opened my sprint and went full gas. Once I overtook them, I was able to maintain control all the way to the line. It was a long sprint,” he noted. “But it worked out in the end.”