On the up and down roads in the Ardennes, a breakaway group of seven got a good lead from the peloton. Team Jumbo-Visma took the initiative in the pursuit with Christoph Pfingsten. On the famous Cote de la Redoute the race really broke open and Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard showed their strength. Vingegaard had a strong hand in a number of attacks, but on the Roche-Aux-Facons he was no longer able to follow the group of favourites.

Roglic also had a hard time on the steep final climb. “I didn’t have my best legs in the final. I could not follow the best riders in the race. Of course you always try to go with the first, but it was not possible today. The opening phase was quite slow because of the head wind, but at the end the race completely exploded. I felt that too.”

Sports director Frans Maassen had seen a somewhat surprising race in the last classic of the spring. “We had hoped to go with the first group. Unfortunately we couldn’t keep up with them today. Primoz was in a good position, but didn’t have the legs to win. Jonas was also riding strong in the front again. Moreover, our young Dane can only learn from this. All in all we have had a great first half of the season”, he referred to Wout van Aert’s victories in Gent-Wevelgem and Amstel Gold Race and Roglic’s final victory in the Tour of the Basque Country.