The young Frenchman became the first rider to win four consecutive stages at Okolo Slovenska.
Paul Magnier’s perfect week in Slovakia continued Saturday afternoon in Sladkovicovo – a small town lying not far from the country’s capital – where the race’s yellow jersey racked up another win, his fourth in a row at the race, and tenth of the season.
Just like on the previous days of Okolo Slovenska, Soudal Quick-Step’s 21-year-old was unstoppable from the moment he hit the wind with 200 meters to go, just after Dries Van Gestel peeled off the front after another sterling lead-out. Magnier’s victory on the flattest stage of the race was never in doubt, and the Frenchman had plenty of time left to celebrate it before crossing the line. Following this success, Paul increased his margin in the general classification ahead of the race’s final day, which will conclude in the mountains.
“It’s incredible, not in my wildest dreams I would have thought about this scenario when I came to the start. But everything clicked and we had this perfect run here, which I’m sure made our sponsors from Janom very proud. It’s a feat that wouldn’t have been possible without my team, they were fantastic the whole week, chasing the entire time and putting their trust in me, and I want to thank them for working tirelessly so I could achieve this.”
“We’ll see on Sunday if we can do something also on the general classification, but until then, we will just enjoy this victory, our 40th of the season. It’s a nice number and we should all be proud”, Paul said after writing history as the first rider in history to take four stages in a row at Okolo Slovenska, a race created in 1954.
Photo credit: ©Okolo Slovenska
