Daryl Impey "ecstactic" over surprising return to winning ways at Tour de Suisse

The last time Daryl Impey had won an international race was at the 2019 Czech Cycling Tour, and today the South African returned to the top step as he won the fourth stage of the Tour de Suisse in surprising fashion.

“I felt good going over the last climb and I was in a good position there behind EF," Impey said in a post-race interview. He hadn't been marked as a favourite for the stage, however the hilly profiles allowed for surprises, and Impey delivered the biggest of them all: "I thought that I’d lost it with around 800m to go, I thought that I was in the mix but the gap opened on the left and I just went for it. I was about to put my hands up but then I saw this blue flash on my left so I had to do my bike throw. I wasn’t sure that I won.”

Although it won't be the first thing on his mind, the 60 UCI points that he's taken from this win will matter for Israel - Premier Tech who are currently seeking every point available. Jakob Fuglsang is carrying the team's overall ambitions, however Impey's success is equally as important, specially with the Tour de France starting very soon. “I’m ecstactic really. It was a tough day and the the competition is so good these days, with the young guys," he added.

"After the accident that I had last year I didn’t know if I was going to be back here, so to finally pull off a victory after all the hard work coming back, and the great team support and the support from my family, it’s great to be back," he concluded.