“We had made a plan and executed it perfectly,” Kooij said afterwards. “I was able to launch my sprint at exactly the right moment thanks to a flawless lead-out from my teammates. That Matthew also came second makes it extra special. We finish first and second, so we couldn’t have wished for a better result.”  

The peloton set off from the start and finish town of Isbergues for 200 kilometers over mainly flat roads. A breakaway of four riders was given little space by the bunch throughout the day. Among others, Team Visma | Lease a Bike kept the situation under control. Well before the finish, the escapees were reeled back in.  

What followed was a hectic run-in to the bunch sprint. In the technical finale, Team Visma | Lease a Bike moved up at just the right moment. Edoardo Affini and Christophe Laporte then delivered the Brennan-Kooij duo perfectly into the final kilometer. Kooij ultimately sprinted convincingly to his eleventh victory of the season. Lead-out Brennan carried on to take second place.  

“Here in northern France the wind can often play a role, but that wasn’t the case today,” said Kooij. “There were some tricky corners in the finale, so it was crucial to be at the front as a team. We had the guys to execute a lead-out like this perfectly. It’s already been a great season for me, but it’s nice to keep winning into the autumn as well.”