Stephen Williams "over the moon" with breakthrough win against world-class competition in Suisse

Bahrain - Victorious came to the Tour de Suisse with the clear ambitions of helping Gino Mäder in the fight for the overall classification, however they hit the ground running as instead Stephen Williams shocked rivals to take the first stage win.

"To come away with a win and win like this was great. It’s been a strange few years, and I’m over the moon to come here and win a stage," Williams said in a post-race interview. The Briton had a very tough start to his career with several injuries, however things seemed to back back into place as he won the Cro Race last year. In 2022 he had been relatively absent, but a win on the opening day of the Swiss race has taken him straight into the spotlight.

While the likes of Remco Evenepoel, Jakob Fuglsang and Aleksandr Vlasov attempted to blow up the front group with dashing attacks towards the finale, Williams rode under the radar and never hit the wind in the final kilometers, saving himself for one big move which came in the final meters. The 26-year old had a very strong finale and outsprinted Andreas Kron and Max Schachmann, a surprising win which race broadcasters initially struggled to recognize.

“I’m really happy how it went. It was a pretty tough day. The sun was on the whole day, quite a demanding course, and the climbs were not super hard, but they were draining energy every time," he detailed. Williams took the win however, and the race lead alongside it into stage two.