“I don’t really feel the pressure to win yet” - Jan Christen on taking his first professional victory on stage 2 of the Giro d’Abruzzo

After coming close with a second place finish at Milano-Torino last month, Jan Christen took his first professional victory in his neo-pro season with UAE Team Emirates on stage 2 of the Giro d’Abruzzo.

The Swiss rider went solo with 6km to go after several attacks went on an uncategorised climb in the final 20km. He managed to hold off the chase from the group behind, which included the likes of Alexey Lutsenko, Domenico Pozzovivo and George Bennett, as well as Christen’s teammates Adam Yates and Pavel Sivakov.

As he crossed the line the 19-year-old was able to savour the first win of his career, punching the air as he rolled across the line in Magliano de’ Marsi. His victory was a display of both his climbing and time trialling ability, as well as his incredible punch, which he used to his advantage to go clear.

Speaking after the race, Christen talked about how important this victory was to him, as he said “it was my dream to achieve a professional victory before I was twenty and I have now achieved that”.

As he described the finale from his perspective, it became very apparent that his attack was meticulously planned by UAE Team Emirates, as he stated that “we had drawn up a good plan with the team and everything went as planned. We rode a good and tight pace on the last climb. It was then my turn to attack, but in the chasing group Alexey Lutsenko closed the gap again. Then it all became a bit more chaotic. I took off again, this time on the descent, and that turned out to be a good move. With two kilometres to go, I knew victory was won. Before the start of the ride we already agreed, this was my day”.

On where his mind went as he reached the finish, he went on to say “when I crossed the finish line, I thought about my family, teammates, coach, manager and my grandfather. The latter was also a cyclist in the past. Unfortunately he passed away one year ago. He would have really liked to see my first professional victory”.

Now with a victory to his name already in his career, Christen was asked whether he feels any pressure to deliver more wins, to which he replied “as a young rider I don't really feel the pressure to win yet. I have absolute confidence in the team. They give us time to develop and get stronger, but I also get all my opportunities. It is very special that this has already resulted in a victory”.