Mads Pedersen won Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. And, as a gesture of appreciation, he gifted the stuffed donkey to Jasper Stuyven.
Why a stuffed donkey for a trophy?
The citizens of Kuurne are nicknamed "ezels" or donkeys. The people of Kuurne were vegetable growers and would take them to Kortrijk market. They would set off early in the morning and donkey-pulled carts would make noise, annoying the still slumbering Kortrijk people. They would exclaim, "It's those asses from Kurrne again!"
We don't want to see that team of yesterday, that's for sure. So of course we were motivated to do better today after a shit result like yesterday. In a case like this, it's always better to speak from the bike."
-Mads Pedersen
"It wasn't an easy race, but we kept going and believing in ourselves even when the break was eight minutes clear. Tim was huge again, and then Julian tried his chance and showed his panache, but the headwind worked against him. When he got caught, he told me that it would be my day and the entire team will work for me, and when the World Champion tells you this, it gives you extra strength. Everybody was so committed and believed in me, that the only thing you can do is take your hat off and say a big thank you!"
-Davide Ballerini
"I think it was my chance to win this race. Somebody hit my rear wheel in the crash and it was bent completely; it was touching my frame. I'm a bit disappointed because I would have had a good sprint. That's racing.
I'm hoping that I can manage to up the level a little bit and follow all the best guys because I was not with them when they attacked. We will see in one month. Then it's the real deal. I look forward to that."
-Alexander Kristoff
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