Dylan Teuns loses only to Benoît Cosnefroy at Brabantse Pijl: "He had the advantage of joining one lap later and thus saving more energy"

Eighth from Tour of Flanders, Dylan Teuns continues to perform at a high level as the Belgian lost only to French Benoît Cosnefroy at Wednesday's Brabantse Pijl. The Israel - Premier Tech rider thus confirms he has to be considered among favourites for the Ardennes.

"I think I can handle Cosnefroy in a sprint," Teuns says in the flash interview afterwards. "He had the advantage of joining one lap later and thus saving his legs for another lap. Quinten Hermans also had that, so they were two fresh and fast men."

"And I also had a teammate who came back," he refers to Joseph Blackmore, who proved worth his weight in gold in the last two kilometers when Van den Berg rode away. "He did a fantastic last mile and a half. I needed that to keep the pressure on, especially on that difficult slope with a difficult sprint. In the sprint I saw an opening on the left and attacked from far away. In the end it turned out to be a good move, but Benoît was in my wheel and he still got over."

"I always like to do the Brabantse Pijl, although more and more riders are skipping this race. Now I want to recover for three good days and then on to Sunday," he looks forward to the Amstel Gold Race. "My ambitions are no different than today, we want to stay on track and achieve the highest possible results."