Gino Mäder: "We hoped for a podium, but I didn’t really believe in it until I crossed the finish line"

Bahrain - Victorious have had a very strong spring, and also a strong performance at the Tour de Romandie with Dylan Teuns winning the second stage. The team's GC ambitions didn't look like they would become successful, however Gino Mäder put in a storming time in the final time-trial to climb onto the final podium.

“We hoped for a podium, but I didn’t really believe in it until I crossed the finish line! I’m super happy, Damiano performed great, and as a team we rode well together the whole week, pushing each other" Mäder said in a post-race interview.

With a breakthrough season last year, having gotten wins at the Giro d'Italia, Tour de Suisse and a fifth place at the Vuelta a España - alongside youth classification - Mäder set off for 2022 with high expectations. He had a difficult spring where he wasn't able to perform at the same level, until he stepped foot on his home country. The Swiss rode a consistent week, and then took a strong third place in the mountain time-trial to Villars to capture the second place in the overall classification, only behind Aleksandr Vlasov by 50 seconds.

"Yesterday was a bit of a frustrating day, but I think we bounced back pretty well – we can enjoy what was a good week," he concluded. Mäder will be part of a strong Tour de France lineup this summer, where his focus will be on the overall classification.