"I showed today that I'm ready": Laurence Pithie eyes overall victory in Dunkerque after stage 1 success

The 4 Jours de Dunkerque's opening stage had a not-so-surprising winner with Laurence Pithie conquering the uphill drag sprint in Laon. Much of the credit for his victory goes to his choice of a wheel to follow as opponent Lewis Askey's early launch of sprint placed Pithie in a perfect position to finish off the job. For Pithie, it is a second victory is span of just a few days following his Rund um Koln triumph.

"The team did a great job today. It was an easy day at the beginning, but in the final, it was flat out every time, on every lap. I'm really happy to take the win today," Pithie said at the finish line.

"I also think we have the fastest team. With Jordi Meeus, who has already won on the Champs-Élysées, he's a great sprinter. And then my lead-out man today, Arne Marit, did a great job with me. We have a really strong train."

The Kiwi classics rider is clearly on a high at the moment: "My victory on Sunday at the Rund um Koln gave me a lot of confidence for this week. I was a little tired yesterday [at the Classic Dunkerque], but today I felt good. For the general classification, the last day (in Cassel) will be difficult, but I think I showed today that I'm ready," he said.

Askey's long sprint effort ultimately fired back as the Briton was demoted to a third place at the finish line after French speedster Bryan Coquard came from a far with a better bike throw for second place behind dominant Pithie.

"Obviously, I would have preferred to win, because I really had good legs today. But I'm still very satisfied. It was a tricky finish, and it's precisely on this type of terrain that I've worked a lot this winter. So I'm happy to see that it's paying off and that I was still in contention for the win," Coquard said. "Laurence Pithie was very strong too. Afterwards, I think I made a poor move in the final kilometers. Frankly, I think I had the legs to win."

"I'm in contention for the overall classification," he continued. "This morning on the bus, we were chatting a bit, and for me, some guys like Pithie and Askey were among the favorites for the GC. But it's always a very open race. It's really a race that's won on sheer strength, and it can be decided right up to the last day with the time bonuses. For now, we're well positioned, and we'll see how things develop."

Tomorrow's stage is once again designated to fast men, however the organizers have not made their job easy with three categorized climbs in the final third of stage 2. At the end of the 187-kilometer stage with roughly 1,500 climbing meters, riders will battle for victory in Liévin. With a rather easier finale, we could see a different type of riders join the mix as purer sprinters like Jordi Meeus or Arvid De Kleijn will look to step into the spotlight.