Giulio Ciccone couldn't compete with Tadej Pogacar on the Mur de Huy at Fleche Wallone: "Congratulations to him, he has something extra"

A fifth-placed finish at La Fleche Wallone was a continuation of the impressive early season form displayed by Trek - Segafredo's Italian leader, Giulio Ciccone. He admits though that Tadej Pogacar was on another level.

“There was a fight for positions, I took some risks in the final but I wanted to be at his wheel to see how well he was going," the 28-year-old revealed to Rai in a post-race interview. "He's awesome. This year I hadn't raced with him yet, but what you see on TV also happens live, so congratulations to him, he has something extra

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Ciccone's first race in nearly a month, La Fleche Wallone continued the Italian's impressive early season form that has seen him secure top 10 general classification finishes at each of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Volta a Catalunya.

"For a moment I thought I'd do a little better, but in the last 200 meters I was a bit at the limit," Ciccone explains referring again to finale of La Fleche Wallone. "But, come on, it's not bad, it's the first race back after a block of work, let's say it's the confirmation that the conditions are good this year. It was a good return to the races, now on Sunday there will be Liège, which is the most beautiful."

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"I'm even closer than I thought before" - Second place at Flèche Wallone behind Pogacar a great sign for Mattias Skjelmose