Fred Wright was draped over the top tube, 272km in his legs, 7th in his hands, and more thoughts in his head than he could process at that moment. That's the way it tends to be in the Tour de Flanders.

"I'm so tired, I can't talk," Wright said apologetically to the journalists leaning over the barrier in the mixed zone. 'I think I need food or something.'

The Englishman's fatigue was understandable, but he did his best to put it into words. Wright was supported by Matej Mohoric and Dylan Tuns in this Tour of Flanders, while Bahrain Victorious was supported by Tadej Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates) and eventual winner Mathieu Van Der Pol (Alpecin Phoenix) in the finale. anticipating the inevitable acceleration that would ensue.

So Wright was tasked with following the move of Dylan Van Baar (Ineos Grenadiers) on the first climb of the Paterberg, and the duo led the race up the dreaded Koppenberg. Pogachar, Van der Pol, and Valentin Maduas (Groupama-FDJ) joined forces on the Tyenberg with 36 km to go, and Wright was soon assured of victory in the Ronde.

"It's just an elimination race, so I was happy to ride with Dylan van Baarle on the first climb of the Paterberg because I knew it would help me to get ahead in the Koppenberg and Teyenberg," Wright said. Mathieu and Taddei are obviously better climbers than I am. So I was very, very happy to be in the lead group of five when they came in."

Wright, 22, was the youngest and least experienced man in the breakaway group. His efforts were beginning to become apparent by the time he took on the Kruisberg-Hotond. When Pogachar accelerated furiously in the former, only Van der Pol could follow.

"I knelt down. I tried to do as little as possible, and I think everyone knew I was exhausted," Wright admitted. But once Taddei started riding Kwaremont, I had to pace myself. It ended up being a time trial. It was the hardest race I've ever done, and racing in Quaremont was special."

Van der Pol and Pogachar continued on the seemingly endless road to Oudenaarde, while Wright focused on fending off the riders coming up behind him. Teammate Dylan Theuns managed to bridge with Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), and Wright urged the Belgian to push on in the last kilometer.

"I'm not going to lie. I said, 'Dylan, go. Especially with a headwind. ......"

Tuns was within two seconds of van der Pol by the finish, finishing in sixth place. Wright said, "Dylan had better legs than me, so I thought I could do something, but we were all on our knees at that point."

"It was all I could do to keep up. I felt like I was at my limit and I did my best. I'm really happy to be in the top 10. It's good and it's incredible."