Mikkel Bjerg has taken the biggest result of his young career with a stage victory and yellow jersey on stage 4 of the Criterium du Dauphine in France.
The 24 year old put in the ride of his life on the undulating course from Cours to Belmont-de-la-Loire (31.1km), clocking a time of 37:28 and an average speed of 49.8kmph.
The course was roughly divided into three parts, with an uphill start and longer downhill section to the first checkpoint at kilometre 10.7, then a flatter 9km mid-section, and finally the 11.4km false flat grind that wound up to gradients of 6% in the home straight.
Bjerg registered slower splits at the intermediate points, timing his effort well to come home strong and winning the stage by a margin of 12’’ over second place Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma).
The result marks the 31st victory of the season for UAE Team Emirates who also lead the teams classification.
Bjerg: “I’ve worked so hard for this first pro victory. I’m just so relieved that I finally got it now, I feel like I had so many chances to do it and just didn’t live up to my own expectations.This morning I doubted myself, I said the course was too hard, but my manager texted me saying ‘just go for it, you have nothing to lose’. I’m just so happy.”
