"Our plan was to let a small break go and control it from the beginning. But it was a pretty strong break and it was not easy to control so the whole team had to be used in the right moments.
The strategy was to close the gap on the last climb and then hopefully it would be a small peloton. Luckily the boys were able to do that, and then Bahrain did a really good pace on the climb for Fred Wright, and from there on, it was about staying focused all the way to the finish.
Three wins is more than we came here for so that of course is super super nice. Tomorrow we just have to finish the day and then see in Madrid how it goes, but no matter what I think we can be happy with these three weeks in Spain."
-Mads Pedersen had already promised his teammates, twice, that if they carry out their job, he will win.
"It's incredible! It hasn't sunk in yet. I had planned to attack exactly there. If that didn't work out, we had Greg Van Avermaet to do the sprint. I am very happy because I did not necessarily expect to stay away for the last two kilometers.
With six second places including the Amstel Gold Race and the Fleche Brabanconne, I was just waiting for this victory and it comes in one of the most beautiful races on the calendar, it's huge. We will enjoy this and then focus on the Grand Prix de Montréal which suits me even better on paper."
-Benoit Cosnefroy wins his first pro race outside of France. This is his first victory this year, and the eleventh for the AG2R Citroen Team this season.
"This performance is a notch higher than his victory at the Bretagne Classic in 2021. It places him among the strongest in the international peloton. With his six second places this season, he only needed to win. It was a great Benoit today."
-Vincent Lavenu. General Manager
“Of course we expected a challenging race with several tricky corners and the long steep climb towards the finish. But actually my teammates did all the work for 90 percent of the race, I only had to focus on the final 500 meters. I want to thank them for their work, this achievement is also for them!"
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