Photo: Dan Møller / danphotography.dk

Israel Start-Up Nation has a new national road champion on its roster after Mads Würtz Schmidt powered to victory in Denmark on Sunday.

In one of the strongest fields ever at the Danish national championships, Würtz Schmidt proved to be on a fantastic day, always staying attentive near the front of the race. First, he bridged across – solo – to a strong breakaway group, and, later on, he made the final selection, getting clear with two other riders in the last couple of kilometers.

In the sprint, Würtz Schmidt had no problems beating his two companions, crossing the line first as the new Danish national champion. Today’s victory is the second one this season for the versatile Dane after he won stage 6 of Tirreno-Adriatico in March.

Mads Würtz Schmidt: “Already on my way to the start, I told my fiancée that I felt I had good legs today. I was super motivated to do well, especially in such a good field with all the best Danish riders present.

“After closing the gap to the group by myself, I needed a bit of time to recover but after that, I felt good again. The final was all about riding on instinct. When I managed to get a gap and I saw that I only had two other guys with me, I knew I had a good chance of winning this. On the last kilometer, the others didn’t want to pull so I just concentrated on keeping the pace high and getting into the final corner in the first position. When they didn’t pass me in the corner, I knew I would win. It’s an amazing feeling!”