Tom Dumoulin revealed he thought his team were tempting fate during his amazing Giro d’Italia winning time trial.
The Dutchman took a staggering one minute and 39 seconds out of Nairo Quintana on the final 29.3km stage against the clock to snatch the maglia rosa from his Colombian rival.
Dumoulin started the day in fourth place – having lead the race for long stages – but destroyed Quintana, Vicenzo Nibali and Thibaut Pinot to take the overall victory by 31 seconds.
However, he could not believe what his Sunweb team were telling him as he powered his way from Monza to Milan.
“I was super nervous from the beginning and I needed to stay calm but I almost couldn’t. I had good legs and I just went for it,” he explained.
“I spoke to my sports director and he said only if we’re sure I’ll tell you not to take risks in the corners. He said it at halfway already. I was like, ‘This is early to say something like that’.”
Quintana was forced to settle for second place, just nine seconds ahead of Nibali, with Frenchman Pinot missing out on a place on the podium after clocking the slowest final time trial of any of the leaders.
With Rohan Dennis forced to pull out of the race inside the first week, Australia’s highest placing on the general classification was Adam Hansen in 93rd – a full three hours and 46 minutes adrift of Dumoulin.
But there are high hopes that Tasmania’s Richie Porte can seriously challenge for the Tour de France which starts in Dusseldorf on July 1.