Alexander Kristoff continued his winning streak on Wednesday in arguably Intermarche Wantigover's best spring campaign to date, soloing to his second career victory in Scheldeprij. The Norwegian's win was Intermarche's fourth of the year and came less than two weeks after teammate Biniam Girmay won the team's biggest classic since winning the 2016 Gent-Wevelgem sprint contest. Christophe attacked on the last cobbled section of Scheldeprij with 7.5km to go rather than rely on a small lead group sprint, but he later said he and the team were proud of their spring, regardless of what happens later this season.

"We're having a very good season so far. Whatever happens in the rest of the season, one way or another, we can at least be proud of what we have accomplished at this point in the Classic," he said at the post-race press conference.

"We all work very well together. We are a good team, especially for this kind of race. We're a smaller team than the UAE, but we're not one step ahead of them as riders going for the classics." The UAE focuses more on the Tour de France and less on the classics. On the contrary, this time of year is super important for the team. I am definitely becoming more and more important here."

The Scheldeprijs was Christophe's first race in which he won a race alone, rather than a sprint race. He said, "It's a different feeling than a sprint. The race was a battle of attrition, and not just because of the crashes that have plagued the race in the past. Rain and crosswinds hit the peloton, splitting the peloton as riders raced through the Zeeland region. Kristoff raced alongside top sprinter Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) and the Alpecin Phoenix duo of Yasper Philipsen and Tim Mellier. The 14-man group launched an attack in the last 15km. In the end, Christophe escaped on the cobbled Broekstraat to take the win.

"It was a tough race. Every time a rider from Beulah Hansgrohe or Alpecin Phoenix attacked, I knew I had to go. I had to chase them three times on the last lap and it was really hard. I wanted to see if I could get away once we got to the cobbled sections, and I was going to go with one or two guys. I was going to go with one or two guys, and nobody was with me, so I gave it everything I had. I gave it my all all day, but I had good legs in the final. I'm really happy to have finished alone.

"I'm usually a slow starter. I'm usually a slow starter, but today I got up to speed. Thanks to Gerben Thyssen, I was in the first group when the fans were drawn. Unfortunately he crashed, so I had to do it alone. Luckily I was able to finish." Christophe's attention will now turn to Paris-Roubaix on January 17. The champion of Flanders and San Remo, Christophe aims to add the last cobbled classic of 2022 to his long journal and end the spring of Intermarché Wanty-Gaubert with his biggest success to date.