‘I don't know what's wrong’: Jarno Widar far from happy with seventh place among world elite

On the final day of the Volta ao Algarve, 20-year-old Jarno Widar, in his first encounter with the world’s elite, held his own comfortably. But after finishing seventh, the leader of Lotto-Intermarché didn’t want to accept any congratulations.

“I rode with sore legs. There was nothing left,” the talent responded afterwards to HLN. “If you’re already in pain at the start in the afternoon, you know it’s going to be tough. The result isn’t bad. But my feeling is so bad that I can’t be happy with it. Maybe I need to get some freshness back. I just don’t know what’s wrong.”

With that, the rider from Limburg was quite hard on himself. “It was a week full of frustrations, really. I had hoped to be strong here, but yeah... unfortunate. I hope for better legs soon.”

So why won’t Widar look at the positive? “I am a winner, you know. That’s what it is,” said the former Giro Next Gen winner.