"I just tried to stay on their wheel" - Arnaud De Lie on the respect of Alpecin-Deceuninck's sprint train

Jasper Philipsen came in second again. Or so it seemed. Lotto Dstny sprinter Arnaud De Lie relied on Philipsen's train to get him out of the positioning troubles. Thanks to Alpecin-Deceuninck he was able to cross the line in sixth place.

Things weren't looking good for the Belgian champion. With one and a half kilometres to go, there was no teammate to be seen. But he still managed a great sixth place. "I saw Van der Poel and Philipsen and tried to stay on their wheel. I may have started a bit too early, but a sixth place is certainly not bad," De Lie told Het Nieuwsblad before Philipsen's relegation moved him to 5th place.

With third and fourth places from previous sprints, De Lie is slowly completing his collection, but the victory is still missing. "I am happy, it was the third sprint and I was there again. The two previous sprints I was still frustrated because I couldn't go all out, now I was really able to sprint well."