Stefan Küng: “I owe my teammates a beer”

April 17 ^th 2022 - 18:45

It was a really hard and tactical race today. To react all the time was not easy. I had had to stop for a nature break and that’s why I was behind when the peloton split after 47k. By the time the group were organised to chase, the first bunch had a minute over us. After going through all that happened today, it is nice to be at least on the podium. This is a big achievement at my favourite race

I did a really big step up this year. I’ve been riding on a different level - also mentally. I’m really confident that I can actually follow the best and be part of the race until the final. I can also be calm at the beginning of the race, because I know now that the races are very long. You can feel the confidence of the team when your teammates do their best for you. They worked so hard all day long, they were so strong, and I wanted to pay them back in a way by landing a good result. We have a very good group and a very good dynamic at Groupama-FDJ. The big win is missing but if we keep trying, it will eventually come. I had told my teammates on the team bus that today it was important to fight back every time we had an upset. Hats off to Olivier Le Gac in particular – he helped me countless times today. I owe them a beer tonight!

This race is really important for our team. Both our Sports Director and our GM won it. It’s the biggest one-day race in France. We are French team, with a French sponsor, and this is the highlight of our schedule after the Tour de France. I’m proud to represent the team on the podium. I didn’t feel pressure – they just believed in me, even when we were on the back foot and had to turn around the situation.