"Nobody had gas at the end" - 'Man of the match' Oier Lazkano on breakthrough second place at Dwars door Vlaanderen

Oier Lazkano finished second in the Dwars door Vlaanderen only behind an unreachable Christophe Laporte. Movistar Team's Basque rider was in the breakaway of the day and, despite being chased by the favorites at the end, he had the strength to continue and take an extraordinary second place.

"I've always watched these classics on TV at home, they're beautiful races and I'm very happy for my second place here, it's wonderful," he commented in the post race interview with obvious signs of fatigue. The 23-year old joined the day's breakaway together with a few more riders including Alexander Kristoff. Despite the racing opening up early in the peloton, the duo resisted incredibly well, keeping a high pace until they were caught with 6 kilometers to go.

After being caught it could seem as if he wasn't going to contest for the podium due to the fatigue, but to his surprise the chasers were in just as tough of a position. As Laporte soared to victory, he and Neilson Powless attacked in the final kilometers and managed to just barely hold off the peloton. This was a second place that must've felt just as good as the win from the Frenchman, as Movistar continue an impressive spring classics campaign.

He was asked if he was going to be the new Spanish sensation on cobblestones and laughingly replied "I don't think so. We have great riders in the team, we also have Iván García Cortina. Not many Spaniards have achieved podiums in these races, but I think these classics are becoming more and more popular in Spain and hopefully more riders can come here to do a good job".

A rider who has taken stage wins throughout the last few years, but this performance comes as a breakthrough and a display of incredible form. On how he was able to have strength for the finish after the breakaway he answered the following: "I think nobody had gas at the end, the ones coming from the other group were very tired too, they are great riders, but they had nothing else, Jumbo is having a great season, they are playing their cards very well".