"Right from the start, my teammates protected me well in the front of the peloton and then guided me to the first intermediate sprint. When the peloton split, we were represented with four riders in the first group. With Madis Mihkels and Adrien Petit, I had two riders of my sprint train on my side, so it was an ideal situation for us. We really enjoyed racing in the breakaway. When the peloton came back, we continued to demonstrate our collective strength by maintaining a good position in the front of the peloton. Together, just like we planned, we managed to start the final climb among the first ten riders. When Tadej Pogacar attacks you know it's going to be difficult for everyone, as usual. The final preparation for the sprint was man against man. I was behind Jonathan Milan, but when I saw the sprint was launched on the right side with more speed against the headwind, I changes into the slipstream of Tim Merlier. The line came a little too early for me, but I'm happy with the result. Achieving a podium on the first sprint opportunity is nice. I'm looking forward to the next two stages, or even three."
