Soudal Quick-Step U19 celebrates its 15th success since the start of the year.
One week after finishing runner-up behind teammate Diego Lopez and topping the youth classification at the Grand Prix Rüebliland, Victor Devos celebrated his maiden victory of the season. What made it even more special for the 17-year-old is that this moment came on home turf, at La Classique Puisaye Forterre.
The 124.2km course between Saint-Fargeau and Toucy had a rather quiet first part followed by three laps of a hilly circuit where the race was expected to come to life. A 30-man group featuring Victor got a gap there and maintained a strong tempo that didn’t allow the others to come back, before that move fragmented on the penultimate lap, when a handful of riders took off.
Devos was again in the right place at the right moment and booked a place in that group, where he put in some long pulls before making another move on the steep slopes of the last climb and going solo. On the descent, Jules Lefebvre-Fournier (Hauts-de-France) joined him and the duo did a great job, holding off the chasers before fighting for the win in a two-up sprint, where Victor prevailed after an impressive turn of legs.
I was quite confident at the start of the day.
“I knew that it was important to be in the main group once we entered the circuit, and I was part of a strong group from where we attacked and remained only in six at the front. Then I went clear together with Jules and raced full gas the last kilometers, knowing the chasers were just twenty seconds behind. In the final 200 meters, I opened up my sprint and finished it off. I’m incredibly happy with this victory, a confirmation of the good shape I’ve had in the past couple of months and an important confidence-boost ahead of Keizer des Juniores, which will be a big goal.”
