What a day for
Lidl-Trek in the Tour de France. The German-American team
won the fourth stage with Mads Pedersen, giving the Dane the
green jersey as well. Quinn Simmons finished second behind him, while
Mathias Vacek also claimed the white jersey—something the Czech rider certainly hadn’t expected.
"I'd say I didn't expect to win this jersey," Vacek said afterward in the
flash interview. "The plan was definitely to go for the stage win—that was really the priority. We ended up in a good group. In the last 30 kilometers, I knew I could go for the white jersey. That gave me a rush.”
So the
Czech champion decided to just attack the lead as hard as he could. “But I also tried to be there for Mads. Everything went perfectly for our team: we finished first and second in the stage results and also took the white jersey,” Vacek even forgot to mention that Pedersen is the new leader in the points classification.
What’s next for the new white jersey wearer? “I said before the Tour that I’d take it step by step and ride without pressure. I’m in good shape, so I believe there will be an opportunity to go for a stage win. Today we did that as a team, and we did a great job. We’ve got the white jersey—it’s unbelievable,” said a very satisfied Vacek.
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Vacek had given up hope of winning the white jersey
A little later, in the mixed zone, the Czech rider reflected once more on a fantastic day for his team. “I wouldn’t call it anything other than a masterpiece. Everything was perfect today. We had three very strong riders out there. We tried to come up with a plan, and Mads was really strong.”
So by the end, the Lidl-Trek team knew: “If he could survive the final climb, he would definitely be able to win the stage. That was the plan, then: to get him to the finish. So Tratnik and I couldn’t just ride around either,” Vacek recalled the moment he briefly took the lead alongside the Slovenian.
And all of that even though the white jersey seemed so far away before the race. “Before the Tour, I thought, just a tiny bit, that it might be possible to wear the white jersey, but after the first day, I thought it was going to be tough. The general classification contenders were already going all out in the first few days, so I hadn’t expected it. As soon as I realized today that it was possible, it really gave me that extra boost,” said Vacek.