Garmin-Sharp’s Danish stage winner Alex Rasmussen didn’t expect to be in a winning position on the first stage of the Bayern-Rundfahrt that he won yesterday.

Talking about the final, he said to radsport-news.com: “I thought it was too hard, because I knew the course from 2009, and it’s pretty steep. The last 500 m is flat, but… I was surprised I could win.”

“It was a horrible day, with sidewind and rain all day long. It was one of those days that never seem to end. But when we came to the final circuit I again found motivation to concentrate on the race. I didn’t expect to be at the front, but on the last lap I had great legs and then I won – that was perfect.”

“It’s really important. It’s my first win this year, and my shape is really going up at the moment, so I hope I can win some more races. I looked at the profile for tomorrow [today, red.], and it’s really, really hard, so it’s going to be hard to defend it, but I’m going to fight as much as I can. And then we also have Fabian Wegmann and Dan Martin, who can maybe ride for the victory tomorrow. The time trial will be a big goal for me.”