"I'm still just a student": Despite Algarve TT podium, Jakob Söderqvist remains humble about his Classics ambitions

The stage 3 individual time trial of Volta ao Algarve delivered many surprises and disappointments, but the podium result of Jakob Söderqvist was certainly among the positive performances. The Swedish time trialist spent a long time in the race hot seat, only to be overtaken two-time world champion Filippo Ganna, and the race leader Juan Ayuso at a last minute.

Most remarkably, the under-23 world champion rode the second-best second half of the 20-kilometer time trial with only Filippo Ganna putting up a better negative split than the Swede. "There was power behind it," he explains. "Halfway through, I found some energy. A time trial like this is always great to see how your form is. It's a good indication of how good you are."

And even though this a great start of his debut WorldTour season, the 22-year-old Söderqvist remains cautious about his role in the coming races with the team, primarily the cobbled classics. "I'm still just a student, so to speak. I'm going along to experience as much as possible," he tells WielerFlits.

Whether he should ask for his own chances in a star-filled lineup with Mads Pedersen and Jonathan Milan is out of question for the moment for Söderqvist: "I know who I am and what I can do. It's up to others to judge what they can expect from me. It'll also be a matter of seeing how everything goes and how I move in the peloton, for example. I might get an open role, but I might have to work for the team," he concludes.