Why did Valgren flash a token as he crossed the line to win Giro d'Italia stage 17?

Michael Valgren was missing a Grand Tour stage win from his palmarès, but that can now be added after stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia. The 34-year-old Dane of EF Education-EasyPost rode a stunning race from the breakaway and in the final kilometre pulled clear of the rest. According to Valgren himself, it all came together thanks to his lucky charm.

The ever-outspoken Dane suffered a hundred little deaths in the finale, but actually did everything right. When he was left with a group of six heading into the final kilometre, he took the last wheel and powered away. Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility) could not come back to him. That allowed Valgren to pull a green disc from his pocket and show it to the crowd.

Naturally, the first question in the flash interview was: what exactly was Valgren showing at the finish? "Last year I had big hopes of winning a stage in the Tour de France. My son made a Pokémon disc for me, and today that was my lucky charm," he laughed. A stage victory in a Grand Tour had been missing from his record for quite some time.

Valgren had already said before the Giro that he was going after stage success, repeating the words he had spoken in Bulgaria: "This was missing from my palmarès. My career has been a good one, with wins in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the Amstel Gold Race. But I needed this Grand Tour win, because I feel I deserved it. It is nice that it happened in Italy".

The fact that Valgren chose to attack in a group made up mainly of climbers was, in his view, only logical. "It is funny that people think I am fast, but I am really ridiculously slow, as my tests also show. If I have good legs, this is my move".

Valgren being among the day’s best six was down to sharp racing and some serious poker. "It was a strange day, with a strange group. I was pretty annoyed because we were not racing, but in the end we really did race. I had not eaten for a while because the cars were far behind. I was afraid I would hit the wall, but luckily it was not 500 metres longer".