Pierre Rolland put himself in the perfect position to take a surprise overall win in the Volta a Catalunya when he was part of the breakaway trio that distanced the race favourites by 2.40 in the opening stage.
"I had a great desire to do well," he wrote on Facebook after the stage. "In fact, I really had the heart to be at the front because the course lent itself to attacks as rainy weather was forecasted and as the finale was quite technical with a lot of turns.
"After 60km, I was part of a trio after 11 riders had been caught. 3 riders is not much but I had strong riders with me and the finale was to our advantage with the good lead that we had. I could not do anything against the CCC rider [Maciej Paterski] who was simply the fastest.
"I am now second on GC. I am well aware that it is very good, but I also know that the riders in this race are the best in the world. We'll have to take it step by step."
23.04 - 27.04: CAC Nile Tour |
27.04: Liberazione Juniores |
27.04: E3 Saxo Classic |
27.04: Leiedal Koerse |
27.04: Ceratizit Festival Elsy Jacobs |
21.04 - 28.04: Presidential Cycling Tour of T... |
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Diego GONZÁLEZ 33 years | today |
Charles DUQUETTE 21 years | today |
Zoltan LENGYEL 29 years | today |
Theo DE GROOTE 20 years | today |
Stijn VANDENBERGH 40 years | today |
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