From climber to 'part of the big sprinters in the world' – Paul Magnier's rapid rise continues with Giro d'Italia double, but fast finishes weren't always his aim

Paul Magnier is still only 22, but he's making rapid progress as a sprinter, with his second victory in three days of racing at the Giro d'Italia seeing him go toe to toe with some of the fastest riders in the sport and emerge on top.

Such is his improvement; it wasn't long ago that the Frenchman was still trying to make it in cycling as a climber or puncheur, having transitioned gradually from mountain biking to the road between 2021 and 2023 and only found his feet fully as a sprinter when he joined Soudal-QuickStep.

"I started cycling pretty late and started with MTB first. When I went into the road, I was first a climber, but I quickly saw that in the pro ranks I would be a sprinter, because I gained a bit of weight and was really explosive," said Magnier after winning stage one, and his history cropped up again after he repeated the feat in Sofia on Sunday.

"I tried to be a climber, even when I joined the team my first year, but I quickly saw that was not possible," added the Frenchman in the mixed zone.

"We saw that I was really explosive, then I really worked on it. Now I'm part of the big sprinters in the world. I'm here with two stage wins, and I cannot be happier than that. Now I have to say that I feel really good and I can be with the best sprinters in the world."

Magnier's incredible rise to the upper echelons of sprinting is perhaps best shown in just how many races he's won since he made his Giro d'Italia debut 12 months ago, where he only raced for two weeks in search of experience and finished in the top 10 three times.

Since he pulled out before the start of stage 16, Magnier has taken 21 of his now 27 professional victories, and in just 59 race days. Backing up his initial WorldTour successes from Guangxi and Poland with a double at the Giro is a clear sign of just how quickly he's come on as a quick man.

Magnier said the key thing he learned from that initial Giro "is that the best way to win a sprint is to be able to start your sprint, so you always need to make a bit of effort to really be in the front in the last 200 metres."

That's exactly what his Soudal-QuickStep lead-out allowed him to do on the straight and nervous run for the line in the Bulgarian capital, with the experience of former Milan-San Remo winner Jasper Stuyven being the perfect thing to rely on as the break was caught late and Jonathan Milan launched early.

Stuyven dropped Magnier off onto his wheel, and the 22-year-old did the rest, with the confidence of his first stage win and stint in the pink jersey perhaps giving him the knowledge that he has the extra edge to come around the Italian.

While a crash on day one meant not all of his competitors had a clean run at the finish, his stage 3 win was one no one can question.

"Today was the first time all the sprinters could sprint, because of the unfortunate crash, but today was a real bunch sprint, and it's for sure one of the biggest wins of my career," he said.

"The first one will stay long in my mind, and this one too. I feel like I stepped up in the sprint discipline, and I went step by step already last year with 19 victories, and now it's already victory number four this season, now I have the confidence I can do it."

Magnier will head for Italy with the rest of the peloton tonight, before resuming his search for more stage wins on Tuesday's stage 4, and he also confirmed that the maglia ciclamino, which he's been wearing for two days, will be a goal he chases for the finale in Rome at the end of May.

"The Giro is one of the biggest races in the world, with a lot of media around, so my name will be a bit bigger in the cycling world," he said, with this Grande Partenza in Eastern Europe being one he will surely remember forever.

"I trained hard for it, but to do it is something different. The Bulgarian roads gave me wings, and I hope it will continue like this in Italy."

Who will challenge Jonas Vingegaard at this year's Giro d'Italia? Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our coverage of the Corsa Rosa. Enjoy unrivalled reporting from our team of journalists on the ground, including breaking news, analysis, and more, from every stage as it happens, plus access to the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on the go! Find out more.