UAE's Cosnefroy back in the big picture and joins Evenepoel at Amstel Gold Race podium - "The team has always trusted me, it's just that now it's taking off"

Benoìt Cosnefroy has had a few years where he hasn't often found consistency, but he has continued to perform well when on form, specially in the explosive and hilly classics. Nowadays, pure puncheurs get less and less opportunities at the top level, but when the Frenchman was now asked to deliver big, he has done so by joining Remco Evenepoel and Mattias Skjelmose on the podium of Amstel Gold Race.

"it's been a while since I've done a podium in WorldTour, so I'm still very happy to be able to do that;" he said in an interview with CyclingPro.net. "You can race a thousand times, but as for the Brabantse Pijl, I was disappointed because in the situation I was in - if I did it (sprint, ed.) at 300 meters, I think I could have won, with the legs I had".

Cosnefroy was on the verge of a big win. This Sunday the race proved too hard with Remco Evenepoel attacking and pushing the pace from far away after the decisive split was created, and the collaboration with Mattias Skjelmose pushed the chasing group into the two-minute mark.

"Today, in front, it (the victory, ed.) was gone, they were stronger. I tried to do my best to get this podium. No regrets about the way it went in this group of contenders, because there wasn't a lot of collaboration, there were also riders from Lidl-Trek who broke the relays a bit".

Aside from the Lidl-Trek riders, Cosnefroy was particularly displeased with Mauri Vansevenant who refused to work in the group, for no clear reason according to the Frenchman. "I lost my position just before the important point, but apart from that, in the group of contenders, of course there were riders who didn't ride, that's the game. I think Mauri (Vansevenant of Quick-Steped, ed.), who is 27 years old, could have helped a bit. He never passed a relay, I went to him several times. That's how it is, that's the game. I think that's his way of riding. But with Alex Baudin, we rode very well, and we know each other very well".

Instead, the pace remained high due to other riders, who then paid the price later on in the race. "With Alex, we live close to each other, and we train together a few times. We collaborated as best we could, and just a moment ago, I started to lose my legs too, around the finish line. And at that moment, I realized that I was never going to get in front, because I was starting to pay for all my efforts".

However to snatch a podium, it was possible. In the sprint between those who were in the chasing group, he was the fastest and celebrated as he rode through the finish line. "It's like I said, a lot of people asked me, Benoît, when are you going to be a leader in the team? Or when are they going to trust you? But they've always trusted me," he assures.

"It's just that you have to align the race that goes well with the form that goes well. At the start of the season, I didn't have a sparkling form, and it comes race after race". After a few months of racing he's reached his best form, and can have an opportunity at Flèche Wallonne once again, before having an important support role for Tadej Pogacar at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

"And I think that Tirreno-Adratico did me good too. And after that, when we do races in Flanders, I'm not a leader on this kind of race, which is quite normal, I don't have the profile for it. The team has always trusted me, it's just that now it's taking off, because I have the form and I have the terrain that suits me well," he concluded.