The Italian ignited the race-winning move and concluded his seven-year spell in the Quick-Step Floors jersey with a spectacular victory.
The 111th edition of Paris-Tours turned into a Quick-Step Floors exhibition, with Matteo Trentin and Niki Terpstra taking over the role of main protagonists after defending champion Fernando Gaviria crashed on the wet roads in a corner, 20 kilometers from the finish. The race was brought to life by the 28-year-old Italian inside the last ten kilometers, on Côte de Beau Soleil, where his devastating attack blown the peloton apart and sparked a response from only a handful of riders.
On Côte de l'Epan, the day's last climb, Trentin got out of the saddle again and his fierce acceleration led to another important selection, only teammate Niki Terpstra and Soren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb) making the cut this time. As the road flattened out and the chasers began pulling behind, the trio enjoyed a 12-second advantage, which they maintained thanks to the fantastic work laid down by Niki, who put in some strong turns at the front, ensuring the three won't get caught by the group.
Having enjoyed a superb second part of the season, with six wins – including four stages at the Vuelta a España – Matteo Trentin was the favourite to take the victory and the Italian didn't disappoint, opening his sprint with 250 meters to go and powering to his second success in three years at the French classic, which Quick-Step Floors have now won for the third consecutive season, a record for a squad in the commercial team era.
"The light rain and wet roads made for a strung out bunch, so on the first hill I said to myself it won't hurt to give it a go. A first group formed, but then I went again and Niki came across. We played perfect tactics and Niki did an incredible work and a provided a superb lead-out in the last kilometer."
It's fantastic to end the season in such a manner
I want to thank to Quick-Step Floors for these seven years, it was an honour to ride with them and I'm proud of bringing down the curtain over my time here with a second victory in Paris-Tours", said Matteo Trentin at the end of the race which three of his teammates finished in the top 10: Niki Terpstra (3rd), Maximiliano Richeze (5th) and Yves Lampaert (7th).
Paris-Tours also marked the end of the classics season, one which will go down as a truly memorable and dominant one for our team, who took the spoils on five occasions, an outstanding feat completed by ten more top-3 finishes between the months of March and October, and made even more remarkable by the fact Quick-Step Floors became the first outfit in six years to podium in all five Monuments.
Photo credit: ©ASO/Bruno Bade
