Michael Woods wins queen stage of La Route d'Occitanie: "I knew that if I attacked early, only two or three riders were going to be able to follow"

Michael Woods once again won the queen stage of La Route d'Occitanie. The Candian rider thus continues in 2022 fashion, when he won the decisive stage by over a minute. This time, his competitors are much closer to the Israel - Premier Tech rider, especially Cristián Rodríguez who is only ten seconds behind.

"It's certainly a race that I like a lot, in a corner of the world that I know well. I live in Andorra, it's not very far from here. I often train here and I like this region so for me, it's really a great experience to do well here," said Woods after the race.

Despite knowing the region well, Woods admits to have never ridden up Nistos-Cap-Nestès before. "It was the first time that I did the final climb, so yes I attacked a little too early in my opinion. But the stage was tough today, so I knew that if I attacked early, only two or three riders were going to be able to follow. Only Rodríguez was there and I knew I could beat him in the sprint. So I just kept my strength for the last 200m."

The 35-year old's team will now have to defend the leader's jersey in the final stage, but Woods is unafraid. "No, it won't be difficult to control, I think we have a very strong team. As we saw today, Stephen Williams was very strong, and we also have Corbin Strong who rides very well. I hope we can set things up for him tomorrow."