Yves Lampère was only second in Omloop Het Niusbrod. While admitting that Jasper Steiven (Trek-Segafredo) was stronger in the two-man sprint in Ninove, he was disappointed that the Dečuninck-Quickstep team missed out on the win. In particular, he wanted to give credit to his teammate Tim DeClercq for his performance. DeClercq's usual role on Quick-Step is to gain kilometers at the front of the pack in the early stages, hence his nickname "El Tractor. Here, however, he had his ticket to the finale. No room for delusions of grandeur. 'Eve, this isn't your first time in the finale, is it? Tim, you work for Eve," came the quick order from the team car.

And so Declercq cracked the whip to the foot of Mur van Gerarlsbergen, and Lampaert left with Stuyven and Søren Cragg Andersen. Amazingly, de Klerk overtook Mike Tunissen on the run-in to Ninove, finishing fifth. 'It's a shame, especially after all the work Tim did for me,' Lampaert told the Flemish newspaper in Ninove. 'He ran a very strong race. The man ran a very strong race. Declercq, though, was naturally more concerned about his teammates than himself.

"It's a shame that there was just a little bit stronger at the end, but we took the race into our own hands again," he said in the Sporza studio.

"I thought my race was over in Mule, but I still tried to stay ahead as long as I could and that's how I got my first top 10 in the Classic.

As the finale came to a close, Stuyven and Lampaert emerged as the strongest pair from the lead group in Mühl, but Krache Andersen caught up with them at the top. However, Krache Andersen caught up with the leading group. The three had to work together to hold off the chasing Matteo Trentin, but with less than 2km to go, Lampaert launched the first big attack of the final stages. 'I've beaten him before, like in the Deutschland Tour. But after such a tough race, it was hard to predict who would win. I just wanted to come alone. That way I would be sure to win. So I attacked," Lampaert said.

"I was hoping that Yasper would watch Seelen Kragu Andersen for a bit, but he didn't. He then said he was going to attack too, so I was ready. So I went all-in and lost my sprint bullet."

The writing was probably on the wall when Lampaert's attack caused Claf Andersen to drop and Steuben began accelerating himself. Lampaert had to scramble to regain his condition.

"I had to go deep to get back in. For a moment I thought I was going to fall off the bike."

When it came down to a sprint contest, Stuyven shrewdly placed Lampaert on his hip and began sprinting, and Lampaert moved slightly toward the barrier.

"I think we had a good race. I just got pinched in the sprint. But it was a small thing, and in the end Jasper was a little bit better.

"Other than that I had a very good race. I had a good race with Jasper. I think we're going to be okay this spring and we can go into the rest of the races with a lot of confidence."