Benoit Kosnefrois was runner-up for the third time in a week at Brabantspaille on Wednesday with the same result as at the Circuit de la Sarthe and Amstel Gold Race.

The AG2R Citroën leader became the first of two Frenchmen on the podium after Ineos Grenadier teenager Magnus Sheffield in Overijse and Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) was demoted for an illegal finish sprint, Warren Barguil of Arkea Samsic was third.

Interviewed by DirectVelo (opens in new tab) after the race, Kosnefroi joked that he would have been happier had Ineos Grenadier not raced.

"I would have been happy if they weren't here. I'm happy to be second, but still missing out on the win; I'm happy to be second, but still missing out on the win; I'm happy to be second, but still missing out on the win."

"On the Sarthe circuit, there's a lot of second places in a week. It's never easy to deal with these situations."

"It's not easy to win in the rain, but I'm happy to have done so. After a hard race in the rain we all finished. I have no regrets."

Koznefroe weathered the drama at the finish well, fending off Wellens who drifted from the center to the left barrier. The Lotto-Soudal rider interfered with the sprint of Lemko Evenpoel and Barguil.

"I didn't want to get caught by another rider from behind, so I went at 800m," said Barguil, noting that he accelerated on the climb to the finish sprint before the sprint.

"If I was going to lose everything, I would rather have lost to my breakaway mates than to see the riders coming back from behind.

"I tried to sprint again, but there was almost nothing left. I couldn't pass Tim before the line, it was a shame I couldn't take third, but Lemko almost ran into the barriers and I saw that and I braked too."

"It was unlucky for him. For me it was a little bit of luck to be on the podium, but I didn't lose anything during the race. I didn't give up until the finish line."

Just as he and Evenpoel suffered similar blocks at the finish, Barguil also struggled on the rainy cobbled climb. Sheffield fell off the bike as he accelerated on the final climb of the Heldstraat with 10km to go, but managed to recover and eventually regain his place on the podium.

"On the climbs with the ditches, it was always a problem if you couldn't get in there. 'Every time I went over there I was struggling to get back. Without the cobblestones on this hill, it would have been completely different. It was complicated, but I'm still happy with my feeling."

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Kosnefrois and Barguil will target La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in preparation for next week's Wallon Classique in the Ardennes region. Kosnefrois finished second in Flèche two years ago, while Barguil has six top-10 finishes in these two races.