Jumbo Visma bounces back with Rohan Dennis's win in Tour Down Under stage 2 - "I'm proud to defend the jersey tomorrow"

Jumbo Visma rider Rohan Dennis claimed victory in the second stage of the Tour Down Under by breaking away from the pack and crossing the finish line first, propelling him to the top spot in the overall standings.

"But I didn't expect us to make it," Dennis said in the post-race interview. He was apprehensive about his fellow breakaway riders, but it all turned out well in the end. "Honestly? I really had to fight on that climb to close the gap between Jay and Yates. From there, it was a big fight.”

He furthered added. "But mainly, I hoped that Yates would not attack, because he was taking advantage in our wheel, and I was afraid of that. But it all ended well, and I now have the jersey.”

He leveraged his knowledge and took advantage of the right moment to secure a short solo victory, he is certain that it was not a coincidence but the result of hard work. "I didn't expect us to make it to the line, it was going to be tricky. It was. The final was also quite tricky and that made it hard to control for other teams. For me, it was good to be with riders like Vine and Yates. It wasn't a gamble that I jumped along because I knew something like that would happen,” said Dennis.

Yesterday, Jumbo Visma experienced a significant setback in terms of time and personnel due to a crash, but today they have returned to the competition with Dennis as the leader.“You have to take your chance when it comes. I was especially happy that we made it and that Yates did help in the last five kilometres. And I'm proud to defend the jersey tomorrow,” Dennis concluded.