Yesterday, after winning the fourth stage of Paris-Nice and taking the yellow jersey as race leader, Jonas Vingegaard wanted to thank all his teammates, but a special thank you went to Edoardo Affini.

"The team worked really hard and I want to give a special thanks to Edoardo – Vingegaard said after the podium ceremony, thanking Affini - He was always by my side and helped me avoid any problems".

The Lombard is one of Vingegaard's most experienced teammates, and yesterday in very difficult weather conditions Affini escorted the Danish champion throughout the day, before launching him towards victory.

"I managed to stay with Jonas to protect him and make sure he was up front from the start of the stage – explained the 29-year-old from Mantua, who has been with Visma since 2021 - Unfortunately towards the end there were only the two of us up front, so we had to take some risks on the curves, but fortunately we always stayed ahead".

Yesterday Juan Ayuso was forced to withdraw following a crash. The Spanish rider in the yellow jersey was right in front of Affini when he slipped and hit the ground. "Ayuso's crash? I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I think he simply slipped a bit with his rear wheel: he crashed right in front of me and I managed to brake just in time to avoid hitting him. It would have been a blow for me, but also for him, because, you know, colliding at 70-80 kilometers per hour isn't pleasant. I really hope he didn't get hurt too badly".

Fortunately for Ayuso there were no serious consequences, as confirmed yesterday evening by the medical staff of Lidl Trek. Affini's work following Vingegaard continued until the Dane attacked: "With Ayuso's crash, for me that was the moment the stage ended, I couldn't get back to the front anymore. Then I heard on the radio that Jonas had won, and that made my day a bit sweeter. When the team wins it's always a nice reward regardless of what happened".