Fran Miholjević: "It is a turning point in my career"

Fran Miholjević is only 19 years of age but today at the Giro di Sicilia he took an impressive win and put himself out there in the eyes of the world by winning the third stage after a strong breakaway performance that has earned him plenty success.

“I really can't believe it. I wanted to give everything in the final, also for our sponsors. I train hard. Winning here now is a sign that it is starting to pay off... I only started to believe it in the last fifty meters," Miholjevi´c said at the finale of the stage. He was a part of the early breakaway, and was lucky to have a peloton that wasn't fully motivated to chase down the survivors.

The young Croatian attacked the breakaway with 12 kilometers to go and with a brilliant show of power, he forged the gap, and whilst everyone else was caught he not only kept the lead to win the stage, but also take over the overall classification.

“This really comes as a surprise, but it is a turning point in my career. The fact that I now also have the leader's jersey in my possession is a bonus. Tomorrow I will do everything I can to keep the jersey, but I certainly won't be disappointed if it doesn't work out. I am already very proud of my performance in this race," he concluded.

Tomorrow Miholjevi´c will start the queen stage in the leader's jersey which will in itself be an incredible achievement on his still short professional career, however he isn't expected to survive the inevitable offensive of the Italian riders who are hungry for a overall win.