A 10-year drought ends for Sweden as Söderqvist triumphs in Tour of Denmark time trial
Jakob Söderqvist came out on top in the hotly-contested third stage time trial at the Tour of Denmark. Winning in the Swedish national colors, he finally put an end to the 10 year wait for a Swedish professional victory. Söderqvist completed the 14km course six seconds ahead of second-placed Alec Segeart (Lotto), and 14 seconds ahead of teammate and GC leader Mads Pedersen.
Heading into tomorrow’s queen stage in Vejle, Pedersen has a 10 second advantage in the general classification. Not far behind is Söderqvist (3rd, 34”), Søren Kragh Andersen (8th, 1’01”), and Mattias Skjelmose, who was victim of a crash on Stage 2 (11th, 1’04”).
“It’s a good day for Sweden in Denmark!” said Jakob Söderqvist. “We haven’t been a strong name in cycling in the last decade or so, but it’s really nice to be able to grab a win like this and also show it in the national jersey makes it almost twice as special. On this day we try to celebrate Swedish cycling in a country where cycling has grown really big in the last couple of years.
“It was short enough to not be too much about pacing. I went out aggressive, and I tried to finish aggressive, but maybe I could have spent a little bit more in the tougher headwind parts, but this is a small detail for the next races. I tried to get into the TT mindset again after not too many races this season and I’m trying to make everything perfect ahead of Worlds, but I think we are on a good way.”
