It was the first Canadian victory in La Route d’Occitanie: Michael Woods soloed to the line on top of Les Angles in the Pyrenees. “I am proud to be the first Canadian to win in this race.”
The Canadian was honoured four times on the podium for his efforts in the third stage of the French race. First, he stepped onto the top step of the podium as the conqueror of the stage, next as the new leader in the general classification, then as the leader of the climber’s points, and finally as the new leader in the points classification.
In the final of the stage, Woods followed an attack from Carlos Rodríquez and committed himself to keeping the gap with the Spanish cyclist from Ineos. On the steepest slopes of the final climb, Woods attacked and dropped his breakaway companion. He soloed to the stage victory and had all the time in the world to celebrate.
“It is great to see the team performing in different races at the moment”, Woods said after the finish. “In Switzerland, Jakob Fuglsang is doing great, and, personally, I am very happy to win here.”
Earlier this month, the Dane and the Canadian raced together in the Mercan’Tour. They finished first and second.
Tomorrow, La Route d’Occitanie will most likely end with a mass sprint finish. Woods: “We will do everything to keep the jersey and win this race. The team has a good chance.”
