🎥 Winner Townsend in disbelief after first WorldTour victory ("still in shock"), but skips podium beer celebration

Even Townsend himself did not see the victory coming. “No, definitely not,” he said in the flash interview. “There was a lot of interest in the breakaway, and Jannik (Steimle, ed.) and I were keeping an eye on it. There was potential for a big breakaway, but in the end, we were left with only four riders. At that point, I decided to enjoy the day, but the goal was to make it to the penultimate climb. Then I could still play a role in the final. But we just kept going and going."

So in the final kilometers, they suddenly regained hope, even though the peloton was closing in. "I knew they were coming. I was getting updates on the gap in my earpiece. I could feel they were close, and when I saw them coming, I felt more confident that I could beat the other two. I went early because I have a good sprint. After a long day like this, my sprint is usually pretty good. I went with 400 meters to go, stayed up as long as possible, and then went as aerodynamically as possible."

His long sprint gave him just enough to hold off Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) and Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step). “You probably saw my face when I crossed the finish line: it was pure disbelief, an amazing feeling. Winning a WorldTour race is something I never thought possible, but to win a race at all, in the national colors, is very special. I'm still in shock.”

The Irish champion is often seen on the attack, and to be rewarded at such a high level is beyond words. “This is what inspired me to become a cyclist. I used to watch Steve Cummings do this kind of thing, and I always loved seeing it. To be doing it myself now is unbelievable,” concluded the winner. On the podium, he showed that you can't win everything: the giant beer mug proved too much for him, and he had to record a DNF, just like De Lie and Magnier.