For over the course of almost 190 kilometres, American Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) rode ahead of the peloton to victory – first in a breakaway, then solo to the finish. Behind him, João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates XRG) sprinted for second place with Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL) taking third.
As six riders launched their attack just a few kilometres into the race, no one expected the peloton would not be able to bridge the gap. The decisive factor that ensured this breakaway remained successful until the end was the brilliant form of the winner Quinn Simmons. The American consistently kept up his pace leaving his colleagues in the break behind.
It is a special victory for the American champion. One day after the anniversary of Gino Mäder’s death he pointed to the sky as he crossed the finish line – in memory of the deceased Swiss cyclist – and took his place at the top of the podium. It was Simmons who rode behind Gino Mäder when he crashed two years ago, and he drew the attention of the emergency services to the injured rider. “I really wanted to win yesterday, now I’m a day late. But being able to dedicate a victory to him gave me extra motivation,” Simmons said in the winner’s interview.
No change in the General Classification
There is little movement in the General Classification. This is partly because the gaps were relatively small. The second group reached the finish 18 seconds behind the winner. This group included the Christen brothers and the General Classification leader. Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates XRG) finished in 6th place, his brother Fabio (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) finished right behind him in 7th place.
Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ) finished in fourth place easily retaining his leading position. The Frenchman now leads GC by 25 seconds ahead of Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels). Bart Lemmen (Team Visma | Lease A Bike) and Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) follow a further two seconds behind.
