Ludvigsson confirms time trial progress with double victory

Tobias Ludvigsson again underlined that he has the potential to become one of the future time trial greats when he won the difficult final time trial of the Etoile de Besseges to catapult him into first place on the final GC. Having made great progress during the winter, the Swede happy to see his work pay off immediately.

Tobias Ludvigsson has raced to victory in the final individual time trial of the Étoile de Bessèges and in doing so takes the final overall classification. Lying in 21st place at 34 seconds going into the final time trial, Ludvigsson knew he was in with a chance of moving up the GC but the result shows just how much progress he has made over the past 12 months.

The final stage was a 10.7km time trial, starting out flat but then with a nasty sting in the tail as the road ramped up in the last two kilometres, with gradients of up to and over 15%. Racing on his new Giant Trinity Advanced TT bike for the first time, Ludvigsson finished the stage in 15'37", finishing four seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

To add to the success, John Degenkolb finished just 21 seconds behind in sixth place, which bumped him up to third overall.

"I'm really proud of this great start and I want to thank the support of the team, the staff and the sponsors for this," said Ludvigsson. "The team was strong and protected me really well this week and I'm happy to be able to show myself in the first time trial of the year.

"We made a plan this winter to further improve my time trialing, including the aero testing last week on the track, to optimise each and every detail on the bike and it is great to see that these efforts are rewarded. Together with the Giant Trinity bike, it feels like a perfect fit to get the maximum out of me.

"Next up is the Tour Méditerranéen, where another time trial is on the program and this will be my focus again."

In addition to Ludvigsson's win, Giant-Shimano had some unexpected success when Degenkolb did a surprisingly good time trial to end on the final podium. The result comes after a frustrating week that has seen the German finish on the podium three times in a row.

"It is a surprise for me to finish on the podium of the Etoile de Bessèges," he told Directvelo. "With bonuses in recent days, I still had a slight advantage over the time trial specialists. I am in good condition and I knew I could do a good time trial. 

"It's nice to finish on the podium, especially with the victory of Tobias," he added. "We could have done the double if I had just been one second closer to Coppel. But for me it is not a disaster. This is only the beginning of the season. 

"I am also pleased to be already in good condition. The most important will be to be at 100% at the time of the classics. It is true that I could not win a stage this week, but I'm not so disappointed. Again, the most important thing was to start the season quietly, thinking longer term. And to avoid getting sick! In February, I will only race in France with Grand Prix La Marseillaise, the Etoile de Bessèges, the Tour Mediteraneen and the Tour du Haut-Var. This is a big program."

Coach Christian Guiberteau praised Ludvigsson's progress.

"We were expecting a good result but to win the stage and take the overall is just great," he said. "It's nice for the team after working hard all week but not quite getting the win, and it's great that Tobias can confirm the progress he has made and to know that he can win stage races.

"We knew that he was going well and his time trialling has further improved with specific training and testing over the winter, including some track testing last week with the team coaches and experts. So we held him back all week to save his legs for the final TT. Not only did Tobias win, but John took the points jersey and the guys won the team classification too. A great way to round out the week."

Ludvigsson's win rounds out an incredible start to the season for Team Giant-Shimano where both men's and women's teams have been a dominant force in every race they're competed in, taking eight stage victories and two overall GC wins this week alone. This week Kirsten Wild and Marcel Kittel have both taken numerous wins.