France triumphs at the Giro d'Italia as well. After Paul Seixas's spring success, here comes Paul Magnier, the first wearer of the pink jersey at the Giro d'Italia. He is 22 years old, has been a professional since 2024, and is considered the future for the great classics in the style of Tom Boonen. Today in Burgas, Bulgaria, he did not disappoint. A very chaotic sprint, with a massive crash at 650 meters.

This is how the Soudal-Quick Step leader tells his story: "I was fortunate to follow my teammates, I had great confidence in them (a gigantic effort from Stuyven, ed. note). We analyzed the final kilometers thoroughly in recent days, we did reconnaissance, I knew exactly where the roads were and where it was important to be in a good position. In the final 600 meters everything was very fast, I saw Tobias (Andresen, ed. note) pass with great speed on the right, but I managed to react quickly and overtake him in the final meters".

What enthusiasm from Magnier: in 2025 he had 19 victories, only Pogacar ahead of him. "Yes, I was really proud to have won so many races, but this year the goal was to win a major race – he explains – and what an honor to win the opening stage of the Giro. It was a dream, and today it came true. I have an excellent relationship with Italy, already at the Giro di Lunigiana I won as a junior ahead of Morgado, then I wore the pink jersey at the Giro Next Gen (after the victory at Saint Vincent, ed. note), an incredible memory. And today the pink jersey… I think this won't happen every day in my career, so tomorrow I'll really enjoy it. And I must say that it's a color I like".

Tomorrow there's already a tough stage, with 3 mountain passes: "I did good preparation, so why not try to keep the jersey? And then I think that when you put on this jersey you must do everything to defend it for as long as possible. I want to have fun". He also talks about the cyclamen jersey of the points classification: "Yes, it could be an objective of the Giro, but today I was aiming for the pink jersey and I wanted to save my legs for the final sprint, I didn't even contest the intermediate sprint. Because I came here with good preparation and a great team, I'm ready to fight and today we proved it, and I'm proud of that. I trained at altitude and we targeted this opening stage".

It's an extraordinary moment for French cycling, this duel between him and Seixas: "We've shown how strong we are. Paul was incredible and now it's my turn, we're emerging in the sprints too: I'm really proud that France has found such strong riders, we'll try to continue like this". And to think that Magnier started with a mountain bike. "I knew how to handle the bike very well. When I started racing on the road, I was a climber, but I quickly understood that my future would be as a sprinter, because I was really explosive".