"It’s a weird feeling but it’s also surreal" - Lidl-Trek's Jakob Söderqvist takes breakthrough second place at Tour de la Provence

In just his fourth day of racing for Lidl-Trek, 20-year-old Swede, Jakob Söderqvist put in a breakthrough performance in the prologue of the Tour de la Provence, finishing second.

In a Lidl-Trek one-two, Söderqvist was the only man within 10 seconds of his teammate at team leader, Mads Pedersen. "Right now, my body is a bit empty so I don’t feel much at all, it’s a weird feeling but it’s also surreal," he reflects in his post-stage interview with the official website of Lidl-Trek.

"I think tonight it will settle a bit and I’m sure it’ll feel pretty good," continues the former Svealand Cycling Team prospect, who took overall victory at the Flanders Tomorrow Tour in 2023. "It was a five-minute effort so it’s like an all-out test. There’s not much pacing to it, just trying not to blow up in the first minute and then just keep holding the power. Some corners could have been better but there’s not a lot to complain about. Today I just had a really good feeling."

With Pedersen and Söderqvist holding the top two spots in the general classification, Lidl-Trek look in a commanding position already at the Tour de la Provence, with three stages still to go.