Twenty-four hours after his Dwars door het Hageland victory, the Frenchman prevailed in Elfstedenronde.
Paul Magnier celebrated his third success in eight days Sunday afternoon. Victorious last week in Heistse Pijl and Saturday at a spectacular edition of Dwars door het Hageland, the 21-year-old took the spoils in Elfstedenronde Brugge, a flat and fast race that came down to a bunch sprint.
Soudal Quick-Step was among the teams to control the six-man breakaway which on paper didn’t look too dangerous, but ended up giving the peloton a hard time as the kilometers ticked down and their adventure at the front continued. A 30-second gap and a crash that slowed down the bunch in the closing kilometers looked to be playing into the escapees’ favour, but our team took over the reins again and chased down the breakaway, reeling it in less than two kilometers from home.
On the run-in to the line, things were again very hectic, but Magnier produced a sensational jump, sprinting down in the drops in the headwind as he came off the wheel of Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and going head-to-head with the Belgian. It was a photo-finish that made for some nervous couple of minutes of waiting until the jury announced that it was Paul the one who got the victory for the smallest of margins, thus becoming the first Frenchman in 80 years to win Elfstedenronde.
“I’m really happy to take another victory. It was a chaotic and intense finale, which made it difficult to get into position, but I had the speed to be up there and a team that did a great job, for which I am grateful. In the sprint, I just gave everything, and even though I didn’t know who was victorious, I had a good feeling about it. I am delighted to make it back-to-back wins, it was a great weekend for us”, Paul said after the podium ceremony.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
