"I just had to stay in the wheel of Vacek" - Corbin Strong secures his professional GC victory Tour de Wallonie

After an exciting action-packed last stage at the Tour de Wallonie, Corbin Strong was able to secure his first professional GC victory, but it wasn't a walk in the park. With Mathias Vacek starting the day just one second behind the Israel - Premier Tech rider, Strong needed to stay on guard throughout day with multiple opportunities to change the situation. Fortunately, a strong breakaway took all bonification seconds out of the equation and then Strong added further 8 seconds to his advantage with a final sprint.

"I’m really, really happy to win this race," he said afterwards in a press communication. "This season hasn’t gone the way I hoped it would go, so to come here and take the overall win is a really, really nice feeling. Hopefully, this is the start of a good second half to the season."

"My teammates did a really good job at the start, riding a solid pace to keep the breakaway within check, but we weren’t really too bothered about the stage win." The second place as peloton closed in to the breakaway in final meters was a pleasant bonus.

Lidl-Trek did try to create a scenario where Vacek could steer clear from his Kiwi rival, but Strong was always in the right place. "Obviously, I only had one second on Vacek coming into today, so it was actually better for us if the breakaway took all the time bonuses. The guys did a really good job of keeping it within about three minutes, and then in the last few kilometers, Lidl – Trek took over."

"From that point on, I knew I had to just stay in the wheel of Vacek. I couldn’t let him out of my sight, and I knew that if we were coming to the line and some time bonuses were on offer, I needed to beat him."

The stage went to the last surviving escapee - Clement Izquierdo (Cofidis), but Strong was right on his tail, securing a GC victory. "It was pretty touch-and-go at the finish. I really didn’t want us to catch the breakaway, but I could see them getting closer and closer, and I also knew I had pretty good legs. I came close to the stage win, but I’m really happy to wrap the GC up today."