Bak back to his best

Team CSC's dominant riding at the Danish road championships last Sunday, where Lars Ytting Bak, Lars Michaelsen and Matti Breschel took the first three places, naturally delighted their Danish team manager Bjarne Riis - even more so when he heard Frank Schleck had won his national championship in Luxembourg that same afternoon.

"We had a fantastic race, and Lars finished it off in a really impressive way. He's a rider with great potential, which we could all see for ourselves today," said Riis on team-csc.com.

"Our tactics worked out and I must admit, I'm surprised that we also succeeded in a clean sweep of the podium. We knew it would be hard, but it worked out perfectly; and if the break was to hold, [Michael] Blaudzun and Bak [who were in the eight-man break] had a chance of making it all the way on their own."

Added 25 year-old Bak, whose only victory until Sunday was a stage of the Tour of Luxembourg last year: "I'm totally happy, and it's definitely one of the biggest moments in my career so far.

"Towards the end out there, I was a little nervous that someone would outsprint me if we were still four guys at the finish, so I took the chance and attacked. It was tough in that last lap, but when I managed to escape, I knew I'd be able to last all the way home. I would like to thank the whole team for keeping things perfectly under control behind me. They all played a huge part in my victory. This jersey means the world to me, and it comes at a perfect time after a season, where I've been close but lacked that last bit to succeed," he said.