Gerben Thijssen was more than ready to win Trofeo Palma: "We had already planned this victory since December"

It didn't take long for Gerben Thijssen to win his first race of 2024 at Trofeo Palma. After a good work from his Intermarché - Wanty teammates to set up the final, the 25-year-old also executed his task perfectly and gave no chance to Alexander Kristoff and Marijn van den Berg.

"Actually, we had already planned this victory," Thijssen reveals to SpazioCiclismo after the race. "Since December when we had a meeting with the directors and technicians of the team, we had seen last year's sprint, how they had done it, and this year it was up to me to try."

After a few seasons of growth, talking about the objectives for 2024, the first is "to win as many races as possible", but what he cares about most is a stage success at the Giro d'Italia. "I will participate in the Giro for the first time and the dream and objective is to win a stage there," he adds.

Thijssen can rely on a dedicated sprint train in bunch sprints. "Petit will be with me as the last man this year. Rex and Page did an excellent job today and it's nice to work with a team that always believes in me and does everything to put me in the best position."