Philippe Gilbert: "I’m happy to move into the race lead"

Philippe Gilbert has taken his first win with Lotto Soudal since returning in 2020 this week, and after surviving the attacks on the queen stage of the 4 Jours du Dunkerque, he is in a position to win the overall classification into the final stage.

Gilbert, who moved into the race lead today as Evaldas Siskevicius cracked in the circuit around Cassel, said at the end of the stage: "I’m happy to move into the race lead, but to be honest I am a little disappointed to miss the podium today and the bonification seconds that come with it." Gilbert was a part of the winning group that battled for the stage win, and has climbed up the GC consequently.

I would have preferred to create a bigger gap on GC today with tomorrow’s final stage in the back of my mind. With only a couple seconds of advantage on my closest GC rivals, it’s definitely not over and it will be a thriller," he concluded.

Despite the stress, tomorrow's stage to Dunkerque has a pan-flat finish and should be a bunch sprint. Gilbert is on the verge of capturing his first stage-race win since 2017 De Panne-Koksijde which has in the meantime became a one-day race.