Tom Pidcock resigned: “UAE rode the perfect race”

The victory went to Marc Soler, who had gone clear midway through the shortened 90-kilometre stage with Danish teammate Julius Johansen. The time triallist finished nineteen seconds behind the winner from Catalonia, who was understandably delighted with the win.

“I’m really happy with the result and the team spirit. Julius and I worked well together and we just kept going. It wasn’t easy with the wind,” said Soler, who also had words of thanks for teammate Tim Wellens — the Belgian disrupted the chase in the group behind.

“Tim did a fantastic job in the group and helped us a lot. The team was great all day. I’m happy to wear the leader’s jersey. We’ll see what the wind does tomorrow and what’s waiting for us,” Soler added.

Pidcock finished third at forty seconds and still put another twenty seconds into a small chasing group that included Wellens, Pello Bilbao, Matej Mohorič and Mathyas Kopecký. Tom Pidcock was positive about his first race of the season: “To be honest, I’m really happy with the legs and how I felt in my first race. I can’t complain, although UAE played it smarter.”

The explosive Brit, who prepared for his return in Chile, had to battle the wind all day. “Our radio communication wasn’t good, and right at the moment Wellens attacked, I was taking a gel. Once the gap was there, we couldn’t just close it anymore. UAE rode the perfect race.”

“With the wind, I hoped we might still be able to get back in the last 25 kilometres, but it turned into more of a tailwind and that made it harder,” Pidcock concluded in his post-race interview.