Philippe Gilbert has announced his retirement at the end of the season, but showed he is still capable of winning. The 39-year-old Gilbert, who has won every monument except Milan-San Remo, won the uphill group sprint on stage 3 of the 4 Jules de Dunkerque and joined the overall race for the win.

"This victory comes with a lot of emotion," Gilbert said. But I haven't forgotten how to wave my arms." Gilbert, who won his 79th career victory, explained how the team had to adapt after young and talented sprinter Arnaud Des Rieres crashed on the opening stage.

"We came here with a strong team and we were looking for an overall result and a stage win with Arnaud Des Ries at the center. 'Unfortunately he had to retire on the first stage. So we had to change our race strategy a bit. The team rode a perfect race today.

The stage win earned him a 10-second time bonus and moved him into second place overall, along with stage 1 winner Arvid de Klein (Human Powered Health).

With three stages still to go, stage 5 from Roubaix to Kassel is the perfect stage for Gilbert, sandwiched between two stages for pure sprinters. However, all of the top 60 GC finishers are still within 10 seconds of each other.

"Everything is still up for grabs," Gilbert said. There could be another group sprint tomorrow, but the stage around Mont Cassel on Saturday is crucial." The stage around Mont Cassel on Saturday is very important. I know the climb from Ghent-Wevelgem and obviously it will be a hard day. But six riders from Lotto-Soudal are still within 10 seconds of each other on GC.

Gilbert's last win came before the pandemic, when he won the windswept stage of the 2019 Vuelta a España. Since then, he has moved from Quick Step to Lotto-Soudal, where he suffered knee problems that resulted in a fractured patella at the 2020 Tour de France. He then announced his retirement last month.

His victory points in the Pro Series 4 Jules of Dunkerque, the equivalent of two Giro d'Italia stage wins, will help Lotto-Soudal to move off the bottom of the 2020-2022 WorldTour team rankings and avoid demotion from the top team in 2023. It will make a significant contribution to helping Lotto Soudal escape the bottom of the 2020-2022 World Tour team rankings and avoid relegation from the top team in 2023.