Rohan Dennis happy after overall victory in the Provence
Feb 24 2017 01:37 am CET
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS FEEDSRohan Dennis has taken the victory at the 2ème Tour Cycliste International La Provence, his first race of the season in Europe. The BMC rider is happy with this win and his form at this point in the year.
The Australian showed his strengths in the race by taking the overall win by seconds. "I am really happy with the form I have shown here and of course, to take the win," he said at the end of the last stage.
"Normally I am not in the best condition at the early races in Europe, so this race has definitely been a big confidence boost for what's to come over the rest of the season."
With some kilometers to go in the last stage of the race, Mattia Cattaneo of Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec launched an attack and the team reacted to protect the lead of Dennis. With the help of Brent Bookwalter, the Australian attacked at the end and got to the finish line on time to take the overall win.
"I was a little bit nervous when Cattaneo attacked. I wasn't totally sure we could bring him back, and when he was still 14 seconds ahead with 1.5km to go, I knew it wasn't going to be easy. When I made my move, it was a last ditch effort really, so I was pleased it worked out.
"It's been a close race every day and, with only three stages, there isn't any time to waste. It all comes down to who makes the right move at the right time," he added.
At the end of the race, Dennis was deeply satisfied with the performance of his team. "It was our race to lose coming into today's stage, but we proved that we had the strongest team in the end.
"We did everything ourselves today to control the race, and we were able to pull off the overall victory. It has been a full team effort right from the start of this race and I wouldn't be in this position if it had just been me," the Australian affirmed.
