Team Visma | Lease a Bike lined up with just five riders for the Walloon semi-classic. Jed Smithson (usually racing for the Development Team), Julien Vermote, Niklas Behrens, Victor Campenaerts and Laporte himself, however, had no intention of simply blending into the peloton.

No breakaway was ever given much room to breathe, thanks in part to the work of Team Visma | Lease a Bike. Campenaerts, in particular, sacrificed himself in the final kilometres, pulling hard on the front to set up Laporte for the sprint. The Frenchman duly positioned himself well for the finale and showed strong legs in the dash to the line, but two riders proved just a touch faster.

“It was a really fast race”, said sports director Maarten Wynants afterwards. “It took nearly eighty kilometres before a breakaway could even form. We managed to anticipate things well by sending Victor and Niklas into some of the moves. At one point, we decided to fully commit to a sprint finish, and the team executed that plan perfectly. Christophe picked a good wheel in the finale but lost contact for just a moment — and with it, a bit of momentum. Third place is a solid result, though with a little more luck we might have achieved even more. All in all, it was a good day for us.”