'You need to be a little bit stupid to be a sprinter’ - Lund Andresen after Down Under win

After the finish, the 23-year-old Dane was still processing what had just happened. “Oh, this feels amazing,” he said in the post-race interview. “I can’t remember the last time I felt like this. This is unbelievable.”

It is his first season with Decathlon CMA CGM after three years at Picnic PostNL, and the win landed as more than a well timed sprint. It also felt like an early sign that the switch is working. “The new team, the bike is so fast, and my teammates did an incredible job,” he said. “And also all the belief from management.”

He described a quiet but clear message in the days before the race, and how it shaped the way the team approached the opener. “We got some emails before this race reminding us the ambition we have for this year, and how important it is to work together,” he said. “I think we showed that today.”

The Dane was then asked about how he experienced the fast run in to the finish in Tanunda. “Oh, I enjoyed it,” he said. “I really enjoyed this. I think you need to be a little bit stupid to be a sprinter and enjoy this kind of finish.”

He said it with a grin, but the message landed. Sprinting at this level takes full commitment, and there is no room for fear.

What pleased him most was how clean the finale went for Decathlon CMA CGM. “Our plan was so good,” he said. “The preparation we had, and we did exactly what we wanted to do.”

The result gave Lund Andresen both the stage and the ochre leader jersey, a one second advantage over prologue winner Sam Watson, with Ethan Vernon another second back. With stage 2 set to be more selective, the Dane may only get a single day in the leader’s jersey.