Our squad celebrated its 28th win of the season Tuesday afternoon.
Soudal Quick-Step made its Tour of Britain return in style, three years after the previous appearance at the race, taking the victory on the opening day thanks to an excellent team effort. One of this season’s revelations, Paul Magnier powered to his third victory for the team, after the ones at the Challenge Mallorca and Tour of Oman, giving no chance to his opponents in Kelso, where the day concluded after a closing kilometer which included a cobbled section just before the finish.
It was an eventful stage, with a three-man breakaway animating things while behind Soudal Quick-Step controlled the gap, and plenty of attacks launched on the last two climbs. Among those to show their intention were double World Champion Julian Alaphilippe and double Olympic Champion Remco Evenepoel, who put the hammer down and stretched out the field.
As soon as things came back together, the Wolfpack returned at the front of the peloton, Gil Gelders doing a tremendous effort to keep our team in a perfect position going into the final part of this 181.9km stage. The same Evenepoel and Alaphilippe came to the fore and pushed a huge tempo that put Magnier in a great position, from where the 20-year-old French neo-pro unleashed a late burst of sprint.
“We had a plan for today. Julian and Remco tried to go on the attack and make the race hard, but after the peloton came back, they worked for me and I did my best to repay their effort with a win. It was very important to be well-positioned in the finale, and having two champions work for me there gave me wings. I launched my sprint just before the cobbles and I am happy I could go all the way and take the victory. It feels incredible and I am proud of taking the leader’s jersey. I knew I was in good shape after my result in Plouay and I hope to continue showing this in the race”, said Paul, the youngest rider in the last 18 years to lead the Tour of Britain.
Photo credit: ©SWpix
