Prodhomme wanted revenge after disappointing mountain stages in second week of Giro: "I didn't take enough risks then"

For a long time, Prodhomme had had this Giro d'Italia marked in red (or was it pink?) on his calendar. "I worked very hard for this Giro," he said in the flash interview. In 2023, he finished 23rd in the GC, but the climber knew he would not necessarily finish much higher this year. That's why he was hunting for stage wins. "I didn't want to go for the GC; I wanted to win a stage."

He had already won a stage in the Tour of the Alps, his first victory in his professional career. But hey, once the ball starts rolling... The second victory is, of course, ten times better than the victory in April. "I had to wait a long time for a victory, but three weeks ago, I won my first race, and now I've got my first WorldTour victory in the Giro d'Italia. I'm so happy, it's such a wonderful day. Our goal as a team was to win a stage, and finally, we've achieved it."

The Frenchman was the first to break away in the mountain stage. Once on the Col de Joux, he had two opponents left. "We didn't have a large gap. When I followed the first attack, I didn't feel good. My legs were bad, and the first climb was really tough. But kilometer after kilometer, my legs improved. On the final climb, I saw that the gap wasn't big, so I knew I had to take a risk. I had finished in the top five twice today and hadn't taken enough risks. Today, I wanted to fight for the win. To win this stage after all that effort is so beautiful."