“This is absolutely incredible. Really fantastic, I’m very happy with this one”, Rowe beams afterwards in Vitry-en-Charollais. “I felt very confident after yesterday. I believed I could make it at the end. I hope I can continue in this fashion.”

Rowe is referring to the first stage of the seven-day stage race for the U23 talents. His compatriot Noah Hobbs triumphed yesterday in the Nations Cup race after a strong lead-out from the Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development rider, who joined the yellow-and-black team this year. “Actually, we had the same goal in mind today. But winning this way wasn't quite what we had planned beforehand.”

“We knew it would be a tough start with several climbs”, Rowe continues. “There were attacks, but I was able to keep up well each time. In the end, I made it into the break of the day.” Teammate Hobbs wasn’t in the move, so the British team played Rowe’s card.

It turned out to be a perfect choice. A group of nineteen riders built an ever-growing gap to the peloton and were set to contest the stage win. “When the gap to the peloton widened, I knew I had to go for it myself. My strong lead-out yesterday gave me a lot of confidence. I went all-in. It’s really fantastic that it worked out like this”, Rowe concludes.