Nico Denz takes his first professional victory at the Tour de Vendee without realising it
Oct 07 2018 02:38 am CET
AG2R La Mondiale © Mary Cárdenas / CyclingPub.com
AG2R-La Mondiale's Nico Denz has taken the victory at the Tour de Vendee. This is the first professional win for the German rider and he didn't realise it at the moment.
The French race was 206.4 kilometres long and started with an escape that included riders like Anthony Delaplace (Fortuneo-Samsic), Gediminas Bagdonas (AG2R La Mondiale), Gianni Marchand (Cibel-Cebon) and Tom Dernies (Roubaix Lille Metropole). Around 19 riders jumped from the peloton and caught the escapees.
That group couldn't be reeled back in by the peloton and soon three riders from it managed to break free. Nico Denz (AG2R La Mondiale), Lennert Teugels (Cibel-Cebon) and Gian Friesecke (Vorarlberg Santic) went away and it was clear that they were going to fight for the victory, even though Denz tried his luck at three kilometres from the finish line.
The German was the fastest in the final sprint, but he didn't realise it was the end of the race and that's is why he didn't celebrate right away. "It was the type of day that I like with difficult conditions," said Denz. "I have been waiting for this victory for a while. I was not too far off a victory at the Giro d'Italia (2nd on the 10th stage), and now I finally got it in my last race of the season.
"I am proud to take this win today. I have shown that I can be consistent all season and that I was able to recover after my efforts at the World Championships. I didn’t raise my arms once I crossed the line because I was convinced there was another lap to go."
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