It was probably the most predictable of winners on the Tour of Flanders however probably the most unpredictable runner up, with Luca Mozzato (Arkea B&B Motels) profitable the dash from the group that got here to the road behind solo winner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
“It’s a end result that exceeds my expectations,” mentioned Mozzato in a workforce assertion. “If somebody had mentioned to me this morning, ‘you’re going to be within the prime 20’, I’d have been blissful, and ‘within the prime 10’ I’d have signed up immediately. However on the rostrum…”
The 26 yr previous headed towards Oudenaarde with a bunch of eight that swept up the break of Dylan Teuns (Israel-Premier Tech) and Alberto Bettiol (EF Schooling on the final second. Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla), who was later relegated to eleventh, launched the dash however Mozzato jumped from behind the Australian to cross the road simply forward to assert second.
“In my head, the target was to recover from as many climbs as attainable within the first group by smoothing out my efforts,” mentioned Mozzato. “And that paid off within the ultimate, as a result of within the final 30 or 40 kilometres, I used to be in fairly good condition. It was a race the place everybody completed ‘cooked’.”
Mozzato had definitely proven he was coming into the second Monument of the season with some highly effective kind. He began March with an spectacular dash victory at Bredene Koksijde Basic after which delivered a run of outcomes inside or near the highest 20, together with a tenth at Basic Brugge Do Panne. Nonetheless, second place directly of the largest races on the calendar was a leap past the rider and WorldTour workforce’s most optimistic expectations.
“We have to immortalise this second! This primary podium on a Monument, it has worth,” mentioned elated Arkea-B&B Motels normal supervisor Emmanuel Hubert. “The Tour of Flanders is likely one of the most lovely classics on the earth. For Luca, 2nd place is a really wonderful efficiency.
“He’s a courageous man, a rider who ‘does the job’ appropriately carried out. He is aware of the best way to exploit the whole lot to the millimetre. Extra typically, this efficiency additionally reveals that the Arkea-B&B Motels workforce is able to competing on the highest degree.”
It’s also a efficiency which suggests Mozzato – a rider Arkea snapped up from the collapsing B&B Motels workforce on the finish of 2022 – will likely be thought-about in an entire new mild. Not solely was this a podium at a Monument but additionally at a brutal version of the race, with three-time winner Van der Poel having described it because the ‘hardest one I’ve ever ridden’.
“I believe it is going to take a while to consider in it and to comprehend it,” Mozzato mentioned of his podium in a La Gazzetta dello Sport report. “I am very blissful, I believe it is my greatest efficiency ever.”
