"It was a great opportunity, but unfortunately we couldn’t seize it" - Axel Zingle fails to deliver in Itzulia stage 2 sprint

Many riders achieved breakthrough results in the sprint of second stage of Itzulia Basque Country - but not Axel Zingle. Despite him being one of the main pre-race favourites, he didn't make it onto the podium. Sixth place was a maximum for Vimsa's new 2025 recruit.

"I'm a bit disappointed," he said on his team's website. "We had expected more from this final. I had set my sights on the win, although a podium finish would have been great. Positioning was the problem today. Sometimes you know what you need to do, but in a split second you make the wrong decision," Zingle puts his finger on the sore spot.

"It was a great opportunity, but unfortunately we couldn’t seize it." Zingle is already looking ahead to the coming days. "There will be more opportunities this week. If our legs are good, the results will follow. That’s what we’re all going for."

Team Visma | Lease a Bike got through most of the second stage without problems, although  Victor Campenaerts did hit the ground in the final. The Belgian was able to make it to the finish on his own, but appeared to be badly scraped. The team does not mention any other injuries or wounds in the press communication. Campenaerts reamains 7th overall thanks to a good opening time trial with harder stages scheduled for upcoming days.