When the Ineos Grenadiers neo-pro and teenage American and the rest of the peloton left Leuven on Wednesday afternoon, few would have picked him as the favorite to win Brabantspaille.

But four hours later, Magnus Sheffield, who will be 19 until next Tuesday, scored a stunning solo victory that earned him the biggest win of his freshly turned pro career. Sheffield jumped out with 3.8 km to go in the race, and Ineos perfected the numbers game by sending three riders into the seven-man lead group.

Sheffield had the physical and tactical advantage in the hilly race, but revealed at the post-race press conference that he also had a secret weapon.

"I'm good at memorizing certain turns and lines," Sheffield said. 'Earlier I couldn't scout the course. But obviously I did a lot of laps.

"I can say I have a very good memory, especially when I'm training. Especially in technical classics and cobblestone races, because it's important to know every inch of the road. So that's one of my specialties."

Sheffield also said that cobblestone racing comes naturally to him. He is already set to complete a cobbled classic this season with the Paris-Roubaix weekend.

He did not expect such a result on Brabantspaille, which has two cobbled climbs, the Hertstraat and the Mosquesstraat.

"Honestly, no," he said.

"But this season has been full of surprises and I think it's really important not to doubt yourself.

"Even if you don't feel so good, you have to remember that everyone feels the same way. You have to push until you cross the finish line like I did today."

Sheffield's victory came after teammate neo-pro Ben Turner made an elite choice at the front of the race after forcing a decisive split with 51km to go. The American also took the lead on the final climb of the Mosquesstraat 10km from the line, putting veteran pro Warren Barguil (Alcare Samsic) in trouble behind him.

Six kilometers later, he followed the acceleration of Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) and jumped off the front of the pack. Teammates Turner and Tom Pidcock played spoiler at the back.

"I just followed Wellens' move. When he swung through, I was all alone. When he swung through, I was all alone. I wanted to let the others chase and let my teammates stay with me, but we were all looking at each other because there was one kilometer to go. But then we all looked at each other in the last kilometer."

"Of course, the last kilometer isn't easy, but it's important to give it everything you've got so you don't get lost after that."

As Pidcock said after the Amstel Gold race won by Ineos' Michał Kwiatkowski, and as he and Turner said after Brabantspaille, Sheffield also explained that it was always the plan to have the numbers in the final. It was a plan that worked perfectly again this time.

"It was a really strong group, but obviously we were the only ones with numbers. So I think we were able to use that to our advantage and that was our plan before the race."

"In previous races, we've had the advantage in the lead group. So it's definitely one of our skills and I think we've been able to capitalize on that this season."

Sheffield, a native of upstate New York, said the terrain and riding resembles the hills of Flanders and the Ardennes.

In addition to himself, Pidcock, and Turner, Ben Truett, Ethan Hayter, Carlos Rodriguez, and Luke Plapp have won races or ridden impressively this season.

"We get along on and off the bike. We are all really good friends," Sheffield said. We're all really good friends," Sheffield said. There's always a rivalry, of course, but it's more in the sense that we support each other. [We are all equal on the team. I would say. Even though Tom is the leader, we see each other as equals and we are good friends. So I think that's the big difference compared to a lot of other teams. We don't have a big "real" rivalry.

"It's all about getting them into as many races as possible and having a wide range of races.

"We get support and knowledge from the older riders, we get information from the more experienced riders. And it's about creating a young group that can push each other in training and racing.

"We're all under 23, so I think our style of racing has changed quite a bit recently. But I think anyone could have won today.