Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike): "I expected a much bigger group to go to the finish line. I knew the final climb on the circuit was hard but I didn’t expect that the race would explode like this. On the top, I found myself with Sepp [Kuss] alone in the front group. It was really difficult to manage but Sepp did an amazing job. I don’t know if people realise what it’s like if you’re below 60 kilos and you do that kind of pull on the flat. I had goosebumps on his wheel and I just wanted to finish it off. This is a really big one. I thought maybe they’d let me go if I surprised them [with 12km to go] but I saw UAE chasing behind me and I didn’t want to take the risk to take the front and still get caught by the others. Later on, I could count on Sepp. In our team, it’s not only about winning but performing as a team, making challenging plans and a part of that is that everybody dares to sacrifice himself for the others. The defending champion of this race pulling for you, that’s a huge example of our team’s philosophy. I’m so proud because of that."
