“I would like to have Tadej Pogacar's legs for one day” - Arne Marit unable to live up to favourites tag at GP Jean-Pierre Monseré

Heading into GP Jean-Pierre Monseré as the pre-race favourite, Intermarché - Wanty's Arne Marit was sadly unable to challenge for the victory on a damp Sunday afternoon.

"The goal was at least the podium,” he laments sadly post-race in quotes collected by Het Nieuwsblad. "Last year we won here with Gerben Thijssen. That was the goal again. The real top sprinters of the genre De Lie, Merlier and Jakobsen were missing, so I was quite ambitious at the start. With our Intermarché-Wanty team we also had the riders who could control the race. Unfortunately, the combination of the rain and the cold meant that the door at the back was constantly open.”

Victory on the day eventually went to Lotto Dstny's Jarne Van de Paar in a reduced bunch sprint with Marit left wondering what could have been.

“I was lying in the room with Boy van Poppel watching Strade Bianche on Saturday and I told him that it must be fun to be able to ride around with legs like that," he concludes, referring to the dominant display of Tadej Pogacar. "The last twenty kilometers he was just greeting his supporters with a big smile, right? It must be fun to outclass the rest in such a tough World Tour race. I would like to have Tadej Pogacar's legs for one day.”