Months of planning came to fruition as Australian Michael Matthews burst clear to win stage 14 of the Tour de France, having targeted it all year.
The versatile Matthews pulled away from Greg Van Avermaet on the steep finish and was able to sit up and soak in the moment as he cruised across the finish the 181.5km ride from Blagnac to Rodez.
Matthews said he'd trained specifically for the last climb.
"I've been dreaming of winning like that since I started cycling," said Matthews.
It was a second victory in as many days for Team Sunweb after Frenchman Warren Barguil delivered on Bastille Day in Foix on Friday.
And it was a second career Tour stage win for Matthews, who revealed it had been his main goal since the start of the year.
He joined Team Sunweb this year, having spent four years with Australian-owned Orica-Scott, who have turned their focus from stage wins to pursuing the general classification.
"A lot of planning went into this day," Matthews said. "It wasn't just today. It was weeks, months, to be able to deliver at the finish like that, from my whole team and my personal effort too.
"When you devote so much, you feel the pressure and you make mistakes. Hopefully I can relax now and make fewer mistakes."
Matthews refused to give up on the possibility of winning the points category's green jersey, though his 30 points for the stage win left the second-placed Australian still 99 points adrift of five-stage winner Marcel Kittel.
"A stage like this has only 30 points. He's still a long way in front with flat sprints still to come and he's won almost every one. It's a lopsided battle for the green jersey this year with 50 points on the flat stages and 30 on the intermediate stages," Matthews said.
"It was always going to be difficult for a rider like me to take green, but we'll keep trying and see what happens, it's not over until Paris, I guess."
Meanwhile, the main game, the battle for the yellow jersey, is pointing to a fascinating battle over the closing week.
Three-time and defending tour champion Chris Froome reclaimed the overall lead after he left Italian rival Fabio Aru trailing in a punchy finish.
Froome finished seventh, one second behind Matthews as Aru, who started the day with the yellow jersey on his shoulders, lost 25 seconds to the Briton in the final effort, a 600m climb at an average gradient of 9.6 per cent.
Overall, Froome now leads Aru by 18 seconds and last year's runner-up Romain Bardet by 23 seconds after the Frenchman finished five seconds off the pace.
"It's a beautiful surprise today," Froome said.
Froome had lost his jersey in the Pyrenees after enduring a bad day on the road to the ski station of Peyragudes.
"I need to say thank you to my teammates who rode at the front in the final 10 kilometres," he said.
"In the final climb we made a big difference on other favourites. Every second counts at this Tour."
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