Wolfpack crushes Visma | Lease a Bike’s plan, and Magnier didn’t even have to go deep to do it

An early breakaway got clear and broke apart on the first climb of the finale. At that moment, Visma | Lease a Bike lit things up, and Bart Lemmen managed to ride away. Together with Paul Double (Jayco AlUla), the Dutchman stayed out front for a while, but the move was over well before the sprint.

That meant Magnier could be confident everything was under control. “It couldn’t have gone better. It’s super special to win in the leader’s jersey. The team was absolutely perfect. We controlled from the very beginning, and then we also had to respond to accelerations from some very strong riders. We did that perfectly,” the Frenchman said in his flash interview.

In the end, Magnier won the sprint with seemingly little effort. “They brought me to the final two hundred meters perfectly, and then I just had to finish the job. I’m very proud to win today, once again after excellent teamwork,” the young sprinter said proudly afterwards.

Despite the climbs in the finale, Magnier still managed to survive. Were the Slovak gradients no problem for him? “Not exactly ‘no problem,’ but the team controlled everything,” the Frenchman once again praised his squad, who indeed made sure the sprint cannon was delivered in absolutely perfect fashion.

“We only let a few riders go, and then we just had to keep the pace high enough so they wouldn’t make it to the finish,” Magnier continued. “Like I said: they did it perfectly. I only had to focus on my sprint. I did that, and I’m very proud of it.”

Now the question is whether another stage win is possible for the Frenchman on Friday. The third stage features even more elevation gain, so does Magnier think he has a chance at three out of three? “I hope so. It’s another tough stage, but we’re definitely going to try,” he said.