Christophe Laporte: "Wout gave me the victory in Paris-Nice, but he was the strongest today"

Christophe Laporte has consolidated himself as a strong classics rider over the last few years, however this year he's joined the Jumbo-Visma classics block which has so far been tremendously successful. Having finished second today at the E3 Saxo Bank Classic, Laporte is on top form for the main goals of the spring.

The Frenchman won the opening stage of Paris-Nice in an incredible collective performance, and today the outcome was very similar as he attacked together with Wout van Aert on the Paterberg and worked with the Belgian champion to help him towards a meaningful win, thus returning the favour: "The team worked very well all day. It's a pity we lost Tosh, but I hope he still watched us on television with some satisfaction. We had a plan to be in front on the Taaienberg, which worked out well with Tiesj and Wout. A second important point was the Paterberg. Wout went full steam ahead and I was on the limit. I couldn't follow, but he waited at the top."

Despite having been put on the limit, team work came in and the duo flew into Harelbeke with over a minute and a half to spare over the closes rivals. "It was still far, so we had to ride well together. Wout gave me the victory in Paris-Nice, but he was the strongest today. He deserved to win here. It is incredible to experience this. The people along the route were fantastic. Especially with Wout as Belgian champion, the crowd supported us everywhere," Laporte added.

I tried to enjoy the last kilometer, but I was exhausted. I'm looking forward to watching the TV footage." With Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Tour des Flandres and Paris-Roubaix all in Laporte's schedule for the coming weeks, it will not be a surprise if the Frenchman finds himself once again in a position where he can win a big classic.