Daan Hoole laughs at Thijs Zonneveld’s tweet: "It’s like boa constrictor: That’s how you squeeze them to death"

Monfort admitted that his men performed even better and with more audacity than he had suggested in the meeting. "Our tactics focused more on the final lap and Surrel, but we didn't expect the team to be so strong. We had to control the race, but not to that extent. We could thin out the field on the first climb and make a good impression, so no one at the back tried anything. That was better than our most ambitious plan."

"To be honest, I thought it was too early," Monfort admitted in the team car.

Enter Hoole, the instigator of it all. "We wanted to set a high pace right away on that first climb to drop the really fast guys. That worked out well," concluded the fast rider. Analysts also saw that he succeeded brilliantly. Thijs Zonneveld tweeted: "A lot of sprinters are going to hate Daan Hoole in this Giro." 'It wasn't really my job, but I was at the front and thought: let's just get started,' the Dutchman laughs when we ask him about that statement.

"So it went really fast on that steep section. When you do that, some sprinters fall behind quickly. On the flatter part, it takes a toll on your legs. It's like a boa constrictor: that's how you squeeze them to death," Hoole adds, using a perfect metaphor.

Jacopo Mosca did the lead work from the start of the stage, and then it was up to Hoole and Kragh Andersen. "I wasn't there in the final, but from what I saw, it went perfectly. The team was incredible, wow. Daan was really strong, but so were Carlos Verona, Patrick Konrad, Giulio Ciccone, and so on."

According to Monfort, Ciccone taking the lead was plan B. Mathias Vacek also survived and helped prepare for the sprint. "The fact that Mathias was able to give such a good lead-out and Mads was able to finish it off is just fantastic," said Hoole. "I think everyone on the team did their job well, so that's great."

"Mads was very confident. He felt great, and you could see that," said the Dutchman, who agreed with his Danish teammate. "Mads is so strong. We really wanted to win. We had a dream and plan, including the pink jersey. It went perfectly; you can't say more than that."

On Saturday, there is a 13.7-kilometer time trial on the program, where Pedersen must defend his pink jersey. "Everything was about pink, so we'll enjoy that first. We'll see about the time trial when the time trial comes.” Hoole also has ambitions of his own. “I'm going to do my best and look forward to it."

And what did Pedersen have to say? "How the team rode... crazy. Such a high tempo on the climb. And Ciccone also has dreams for himself and puts in the work today. Vacek is flying, and everyone is amazing."