Slowly but surely ready for the Tour de France: Cort overjoyed with first victory for Uno-X after rough start

Magnus Cort Nielsen won the peculiar second stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné on Monday afternoon. The strong Dane riding for the Norwegian team emerged in the foggy finale, during which Frenchman Bruno Armirail initially appeared on his way to a solo victory, and claimed his first win for his team, Uno-X Mobility. He beat other contenders like Primoz Roglic and was very happy after the race.

In the flash interview, Cort elaborated on his victory in the fog. "I'm definitely very happy with this win. The Dauphiné is a big race. I've been with Uno-X for six months and didn't get off to a very good start. I had problems and no results. I even got injured in the Tirreno-Adriatico and was out for a long time. It's great to be back now and to grab the victory here."

Cort describes bizarre finale in the fog: "It was completely out of my hands"

The finale was unusual, to say the least. In the last few hundred meters, it seemed Armirail would take the victory, but he was eventually overtaken. For a moment, it wasn't clear who would win due to the dense fog at the Loge. "It was completely out of my hands. I was really at my limit on the final climb. On the steepest parts, man... I was suffering. I couldn't have gone faster, but the team kept me well to the front and then I lost a few meters. But once that was over, I came back. In the finale, everything went great."

"This is another good moment for Danish cycling. Things have been going well in recent years," continued the mustachioed rider. "The fact that I also get to wear the yellow jersey here is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life. It's incredibly special." Cort takes over the yellow jersey from Mads Pedersen, who won yesterday but was dropped in Monday's finale.

At the post-race press conference, we also spotted a beaming Cort. Rightly so, after coming back like this after some less successful months. "It's incredible. The team protected me all day," he said, emphasizing again how grateful he was. "What's my secret? Do your homework and be ready for the biggest races, that is definitely an important aspect, haha!"

Continue reading below the photo!

"It was indeed very foggy, but fortunately still safe," the winner continued. "The last stretches were fairly straightforward. That helped a lot. There were no tricky turns. I had also prepared well for this stage, so I wasn't caught by surprise. In the finale, I was looking out for signs a lot. Or the flamme rouge, for example. At 300 meters from the finish, I was already well to the front. That's about where I started my sprint, although it's then very hard to gauge how many guys might still come from behind or could."

Armirail, unlucky rider of the day, misses out on victory: "I'll definitely try again"

Armirail then had to report to the Eurosport camera a few minutes after a regrettable defeat. He was caught at 200 meters from the finish. "I was really close, I could almost reach out and grab the victory. I saw nothing through the fog. In the last kilometer, I had a ten-second lead and thought it was okay. Then the sprint came over me, which was a disappointment," he opened disappointedly.

"I'm upset about it, I gave everything and was close. We have to move on, it ultimately wasn't my day. But I'll get it next time. There was still control from the peloton today. In the breakaway, I want to compete until the end. I thought it would work, but maybe we were just too few. We got very far, despite the tactical games. Missing out on the yellow jersey is a pity. After the Giro, this was a nice opportunity for new success. But I'll definitely try again."