Matthew Riccitello : “I’m just really happy to finish it off”
“Starting the season with a win, I couldn’t have done any better. The team was perfect all day, keeping me up there in a good position. I’m just really happy to finish it off, it’s a great start with the team. We knew we had two cards to play on this climb: me, if it was a really hard climb, and Aurélien Paret-Peintre, if it was a reduced bunch where he could have done the sprint. When Carlos Rodriguez went, I followed him, and I knew Aurélien was really close behind, so I could just wait a bit in the wheel and sprint at the line. We did a perfect job as a team. Tomorrow is going to be a stressful day for sure, but we have a strong team here to keep this first place.”
Key figure: 4
Like the finishing position of Aurélien Paret-Peintre on Stage 2. By maintaining his effort just a few lengths behind the leading duo, Aurélien stayed focused to secure a strong fourth-place finish.
News: Matthew Riccitello takes the overall lead
With this victory in his new colors, Matthew Riccitello steps into the leader’s jersey for the general classification, as well as the mountains classification jersey.
