He has travelled over 85km today, 62 of which were in the air. He turned the corner at Mont Gros (668m) relatively low, but scratched his way along the face towards Peille, before catching a decent thermal that allowed him to topland at the turnpoint to a chorus of cheers.

'I am very happy, it's incredible,' he said. 'I knew that to reach Monaco I'd have to walk these last two days. So much walking. I'm exhausted, but very happy to be here.'

The 27-year-old rookie came in less than two hours after Christian Maurer (SUI1), who rushed over to congratulate him.

Photo by © zooom / Ulrich Grill