In the absence of Alpecin-Phoenix leader Mathieu Van Der Pol, the Belgian team turned to sprinters Tim Merlier and Jasper Philipsen for leadership in Sunday's race.

This strategy did not work out as expected, with Merlier finishing sixth behind a breakaway group of four in a group sprint, and Philipsen finishing 21st in the same group. In the final breakaway, the team played the role of chasing the attacker and eventual winner Biniam Guillemay (Intermarché Wantigover), as well as Grupama FDJ and Quick Step Alphavinir. However, the chasers lacked speed and cohesion and were unable to capture the winning attack.

After the race, Philipsen and Gianni Vermersch of Team Domestique placed the blame on the other teams in the group, including Groupama-FDJ, who were not cooperative in the chase.

"Personally, I expected Groupama-FDJ to do a little better in the chase," Philipsen told WielerFlits (open in new tab) after the race.

"We only had Gianni.

Vermeer also mentioned support from other teams, noting that there were fewer teams supporting the chase than there were in the breakaway group ahead.

"I had to shoot bullets [for the fall]. But I did what I could after that," he told WielerFlits. 'I didn't get any support.'

"It's strange that there were only four teams in the lead group and only three contributed to the chase. It's a real shame.

As for the team's decision to use two sprinters, Mellier and Philipsen, Philipsen said that he would rather have chosen one so he could have one more pair of legs to work in the final.

"That was the plan before the race. 'Tim and I both promised to take our chances in the sprint. I didn't do too badly, so it's a shame the lead group stayed in front."

"It was a bit hectic in the sprint. It was a missed opportunity for the team," he concluded.

While Philipsen said he showed what he was supposed to be on the tough climbs of the cobbled Kemmelberg, Merlier said he felt he was not at his top level during the race and certainly on the climbs.

"Definitely not super," he said. I wasn't able to push my limits, especially on the cobblestones." I couldn't push my limits, especially on the cobblestones. I'm a little disappointed because I thought my wattage was still good enough."

"I think they were the best in this race. If we could have stayed in front of the four of them.... We weren't sitting still behind them either. Gil May is definitely a great winner."