The wind played a significant role in the 200-kilometer race, with the start and finish in Leeuwarden. The peloton broke into several groups early on. Team Visma | Lease a Bike had five riders well represented in the lead group. Eventually, after several breakaways, 23 riders remained, including Laporte, Mick van Dijke, and Tosh Van der Sande.

In the final stage, Laporte broke away with four other riders. Initially, the cooperation among them went well, but in the last few kilometers, the attacks began. Laporte and his fellow escapees had no answer to Van der Hoorn’s breakaway. At the finish line, the Frenchman was beaten by the Dutch rider Krijnsen in the battle for second place.

“We knew the wind would play a significant role,” admitted sports director Maarten Wynants. “We wanted to make it an aggressive race, and the guys certainly did that. We had five riders with us when the first echelon formed. Then three of our guys remained in the lead group. In the final stage, we were in an ideal situation with Christophe. Unfortunately, the other riders mainly focused on him. It was difficult for Christophe to control the race. As a team, we took a gamble and ultimately lost, but there’s no doubt we raced well.”