Antonio Pedrero : “It was an unexpected victory, I never thought I could make it"

Movistar rider Antonio Pedrero won the third and final stage of the Tour de l’Ain. He was part of four breakaway riders, while others were forced to join the peloton Pedrero maintained his lead throughout the stage and secured the gold.

“It was an unexpected victory,” Pedrero said. He planned to try his luck with the breakaway, but when the group took a considerable lead against the peloton, he changed his plan to aim for victory.“The idea was to ride into the break to see if something would happen, but we opened a gap very early and could maintain the difference. I never thought I could make it.”

“The day turned out well, and I could hang on strong until the finish line,” he said. At one point, he was in the top position in the virtual ranking, but it was too hard to maintain. He eventually decided to let go of GC and focus on stage only. “This victory leaves me very, very happy. I wasn’t thinking about the GC. I knew what the differences were, and in my case, it was complicated. This victory alone is a great joy within itself,” concluded Pedrero.