Unsung hero Valgren lights up Worlds road race
Dane is caught on final Holl cl🌌imb after daring solo move








Denmark's 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Michael Valgren finished the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:elite men's road race at the in Innsbruck, Aღustria, on Sunday as somewhat ﷽of an unsung hero, taking an admirable seventh place, but having lit up the race with his attack on the day's penultimate climb.
He attacked just after hi꧑s compatriot Kasper Asgreen and Norway's Vegard ♔Stake Laengen were caught by what was left of the bunch, with the duo having spent most of the day at the front of the race as part of an ever-decreasing breakaway group.
Valgren's breakneck descent and subsequent scramble up the final Höll climb saw him pull out a l🐭ead of 30 seconds, and for a split🦹 second it looked as though it might have been enough.
However, the gradient took its toll, and the 26-year-old Dane was hauled in by the race favourites, passed by the eventual podium finishers 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Alejandro Valverde (Spain), 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Romain Bardet (France) and Canada's 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Michael Woods, as well as Italy's Gianni Moscon.
Despite having been caught inside the last 10km, Valgren had lit the blue touch paper, which saw the race truly come alive, and ಌwas still able to dig deep enough to get over the climb and descend into central Innsbruck not far off the pace.
With the first three finishers clear, the Netherlands๊' Tom Dumoulin in hot pursuit, and with Moscon not far behind him, Valgren looked set for a sixth-place finish, but was passed just on the line by the Czech Republic's Roman Kreuziger.
"I'm really happy. I needed to have two minutes' advantage on that last, terrible climb to have been able to stay away," Valgren told Denmark's TV Midt-Vest.
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"I could have f𝓰inished sixth, but it doesn't really matter," he said, after being passed on the finish 💧line by Kreuziger, 43 seconds down on new world champion Valverde. "I couldn't have made it into the top five anyway.
"I tried to make a race of it, and I tried to win, so I'm happy with how I did," Valgren sဣ𝕴aid. "I knew that it was going to be hard, and I just didn't have the legs in the end.
"I ran out of e🌌nergy and both my legs were cramping. I don't weigh 65kg like some of the 🅰others do, and that's what made the difference."
Valgren was also full of praise for his Danish teammate 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Emil Vinjebo, who rides for Danish🌳 Continental team ColoQuick.
"I have to gi⛄ve a huge, huge thank you to Emil," Valgren said. "He was with me all day, and, as a rider on a Continental team, he made a huge step up, riding like an old pro.
"He gave me bottles so that I♌ didn't have to try to take any in the feed zones, and that was amazing."
Valgren's efforts cap off a breakthrough season for the Astana rider, who this season won both the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:the Amstel Gold Race. Next season he moves to 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Dimension Data, having signed a two-year contract with 🔴the African team.
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