“It was our main objective to get in the breakaway today and fortunately I attacked at the right moment to start the move and that makes it the third time I was in the break at Brabantse Pijl, so that’s pretty satisfying.”

“I’ve been here before, so I know it’s a hard race, but the pace was super high today. We worked well together as a group, but we knew the peloton wasn’t going to let us go all the way with the big manes in there vying for victory.

“Thankfully the rain held off and the cobbles were dry, it’s always a pleasure to race in Belgium and I loved every minute of it today.”

Massimo Podenzana, DS

“Andrea felt good this morning and we knew from past experience here that we needed to be switched on right at the start if we were going to get in the right breakaway move. That’s why we placed three or four guys right up there in neutral to attack early and increase our chances of getting up the road.”

“The plan worked well and Andrea’s attack sparked the move. They stayed away for close to 150 kilometers, so I am happy with how Andrea went today. Cobbled classics are always tough wars of attrition with relentless short and steep climbs that really take it out of you, so in that respect today was very good preparation for Paris-Tours coming up on Sunday.”