"I'm gone, I'm dead" - Attila Valter quotes Tadej Pogacar to describe his brief attempt to follow the flying Slovenian on Foscagno

After a good intermezzo from Visma | Lease a Bike in the second time trial where three quarters of their riders clocked a top 20 time, it was up to Attila Valter to take the responsibility for result of the Dutch team on his shoulders. The 25-year-old did everything from jumping into daily breakaway to saving energy exactly as planned, but when Tadej Pogacar took off on Foscagno, the Hungarian could be only amazed. An eighteenth place was a maximum in stage 15 - a result Valter considers just fine.

"I had good legs today," the Hungarian champion said in a response published on the team website. "I could always focus on being in the right group, in which I could ride patiently each time. Due to the presence of some riders with GC ambitions in the chasing group, I could also take a wait-and-see approach."

This sometimes wait-and-see style also allowed Valter to save some extra strength, which eventually didn't play a tole when the pink train passed by. "But I heard that Pogacar was fast approaching on the penultimate climb. I prepared myself to try to follow him, but logically I had to let go again a little later. It was a good way to test myself. From then on it was suffering until the finish, but I can look back on my day with satisfaction."

After the stage, Valter posted a witty message on Instagram, where he described the expereince following Pogacar as "I'm gone, I'm dead," referring to Tadej Pogacar's famous quote from Tour de France 2023 stage 17, where the Slovenian announced his defeat by Jonas Vingegaard on the slopes of Col de la Loze via team radio. Pogacar himself found this reference quite funny as we can deduce from his amused reaction under Valter's post.