Roman shone today: He won the final stage

What does this victory mean for you? It is an important victory both for me and the whole team. We were working really hard at the beginning of the season and even though the first races didn’t work out as we had expected, we knew that the hard work was going pay off. I hope that now it will get only better.Did you enjoy the ceremony?The truth is that the last time I celebrated a victory was last year when I took a stage win at the Tour of Sardinia and then won the race overall. I was rewarded with a nice paintin. The organizers have not included the finish on Madonna di Campiglio for a long time and Pantani was the last rider who triumphed here. I think it was painted in his honor but I haven’t taken a close look at it yet.You spent a lot of time in a breakaway. Had you planned to go on the attack?Not at all. It just happened without planning ahead and we rode away after 20 kilometers of racing. At first, I went with Popovych but then we were joined by Vicioso and Montaguti. We built up a gap of over 5 minutes and then the pack reduced the gap to 4 minutes. We worked together and we were pretty much at the same level. Then two riders (Montaguti and Vicioso) got dropped towards the end and then it was a fair fight on the last climb. Popovych attacked 600m from the line, Sella caught him with 300m to go and then I followed. In the last 50m I launched a counter-attack and luckily for me, I kept the small gap until the finish line. It was very tight, though.What flashed through your mind when you crossed the finish line?I realized that I was going to leave the Trentino in better shape than at the start. I got into the racing rhythm but I feel that it´s not ideal yet. In any case, the victory will boost my morale and give the team confidence in the next races.Is this victory going to change your ambition in the upcoming races?I don’t think so. Actually, I have a day to recover before the Liége starts. I´m going there to work for Vinokurov. The Tour of Romandy begins on Tuesday but once again, this race won´t be important for me. Vino is going to ride for the final result and as for myself, I will have to be at my best during the last ten days at the Giro. I think these stages will play a decisive role.4th stage (161.5 km): 1st Roman Kreuziger (Cze/Astana) 4:09:03, 2nd Emanuele Sella (Ita/Androni), 3rd Jaroslav Popovych (Ukr./RadioShack) +8, 4th Thomas Voeckler (Fra/Europcar), 5th Tiago Machado (Por/RadioShack), 6th Michele Scarponi (Ita/Lampre) +24.General classification: 1st Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) 13:54:07, 2nd Machado +7, 3rd Ascani +33, 4th Pozzovivo (Ita/Colnago-CSF) +35, 5th Morabito (Swi/RadioShack) +38, 6th Kiserlovski (Cro/Astana) +42, … 15th Roman Kreuziger +2:24.