Dubai: UAE Team Emirates celebrated two stage wins within minutes of each other on Wednesday.
Italian Diego Ulissi won round five of the nine stage Tour de Suisse, while fellow Italian Simone Consonni got his first ever professional win in the opening leg of the five-stage Tour of Slovenia.
Ulissi said: “Today’s win carries a lot of weight. The Tour de Suisse is a prestigious race and it makes me proud to win here. I was able to come out of the Giro d’Italia in good condition and I remained focused knowing that in Switzerland I’d have stages that suited my characteristics. The stage today was one of those, and I pulled it off. The race was hard and I was worried about not catching Mikel Landa (Movistar), who shot out quite early. But luckily, I closed in on him. I’m going to try to keep fighting all the way through the end of the Tour de Suisse given that on the climbs I feel good and I can defend myself in the time trial.”
Consonni said: “What joy, finally! I have been waiting for this moment for some time. I was talking with my girlfriend before leaving to this race, that I miss the feeling that you get only when you cross the line first. I knew that I could do it, it was only a question of time. I want to thank the UAE Team Emirates staff and teammates who have helped me and given me this opportunity. Today was hard and I was lucky. There are high-level sprinters here. This morning, looking at the sprinters on the line, I was impressed and I knew that I felt good. I was smart in the sprint and I was able to keep my speed through the curve and into the final metres. I was using Niccolo Bonifazio (Bahrain-Merida) and Matteo Pelucchi (Bora-Hansgrohe) as my reference point, and I passed them. Now I just want to live in this moment and enjoy the victory.”
