Quinten Hermans has for some years shown his talent on the road, not just cyclocross. This year he's decided to skip the cobbled classics and instead focus on Itzulia Basque Country and the Ardennes and this payed off as today he took his first win at the highest level.
“The team really did a great job. They really believed in me that I could finish today. I want to thank them very much, because I did the sprint, but they put me in the perfect position," Hermans said in a post-race interview. The Alpecin-Deceunink rider was one of the many outsiders into stage 3, a day marked by crashes. However the Belgian managed to avoid them and was in perfect position for the uphill bunch sprint that the riders had in store.
“We came from a main road and made a right turn. For me it was a perfect sprint because it was a bit uphill. Then it's best to turn it on. And like I said, they positioned me perfectly. Stan [Van Tricht] did a great job in the last six hundred meters," he thanks. "Then I had to position myself a bit, but I grabbed Aranburu's wheel. Then I knew: I have the right wheel. If you have the right legs in the last two hundred meters, you can win. It is awesome."
Hermans' triumph was convincing. Finding an uphill pinch to the line he managed to power through faster than anyone and hit the front at the right time. There was little that could be done; Edoardo Zambanini and Alex Aranburu came relatively close to him but did not have the power to go through Hermans.
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