“I’m very pleased to have secured this overall win,” Smith said afterwards. “This week has been fantastic. The atmosphere within the team was great, and that translated into our results. It’s special to end this race with both a stage victory and the overall win. It feels extra good after a difficult start to the season for me.”  

Smith took the leader’s jersey yesterday thanks to his victory in the third stage. On Thursday, Jed Smithson had already won the opening stage of the four-day race. Today, Smith began the final stage with a six-second lead over his closest rival. The young Briton was put under pressure, but his overall victory was never seriously threatened.  

“It was a high pace from start to finish,” said Smith, who is in his first season with Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development. “The teams of my rivals tried several times to put me under pressure, but we always responded alertly. It took a long time for the race to settle, but the key was not to lose any time in the sprint. We can look back on a successful race.”