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Paul Lapeira

"I'm coming back close to winning."

Big day, I didn't think I'd do so well, but so much the better! I got ahead of Mikkel Honoré and Louis Vervaeke at around 60 km. The aim was to stay ahead as long as possible to keep an advantage when the war started behind. Once the group caught up with us, we had to hang on. When the group that went to the end came out, I may have been a little lacking in daring, but I think I could have been there with my leg. As there were two riders from Groupama-FDJ, I thought they'd close the gap, but that wasn't the case. Then, I tried to get out again with 8 kilometers to go when I saw that we wouldn't be able to catch the frontrunners, the effort was substantial and I found myself really close to the leading group. Unfortunately, at that point, they were attacking at the front and the group was riding behind. When I saw that they were coming back, I immediately got up, thinking about the sprint, because I knew that with my speed, I was capable of taking a good place. I managed my sprint well with the headwind. I'm not far from winning, which is frustrating, but... I'm already very satisfied with the result.

The news

Paul Lapeira first Frenchman in Amstel Gold Race

Paul Lapeira was the first Frenchman to finish the Amstel Gold Race, which he finished in fifth place after exiting with 63 kilometers to go.

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The number

Like Clément Berthet's second place at the Tour du Doubs: " I was so close to victory, I could almost see myself winning, so I'm disappointed. It would have been great to win my first professional race here. But we had a great team race and the form is good. " Nicolas Prodhomme also finished a fine sixth.