4 Jours de Dunkerque (2nd stage), Hugo Hofstetetter 5th
The 2nd stage of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque in Maubeuge was a sprint and Hugo Hofstetter finished 5th. Clément Russo is now 8th in the provisional general classification of this competition and takes the 6th place in Pas-de-Calais.
Photo GettyImages
On the line
“The end of the race was still twisty, we were all well grouped in front and Dan rode for us. He did a great job on the small roads, which allowed us to get back in the lead. Laurent did the same shortly before the descent. I saw an opening on the right, after the roundabout at 500 meters, and I tried. Clément and I were well placed, but he was a bit further. So I tried, because as they say: nothing ventured, nothing gained…”.
“The final of this second stage of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque was still bumpy with roundabouts and very low directional islands that you could see at the last moment, but the guys really did a great job to place us. We unfortunately got a bit lost in the final with Hugo, there were still a lot of waves in the peloton. He soon found himself in front, and I behind. Hugo launched the sprint from quite a distance, at the 500 metre mark, which stretched the whole peloton, and at the end I managed to catch up with some of the other riders. Hugo tried. It didn’t work, but it could have. Sometimes it’s enough for a rider to get stuck a little bit, after that it can tend to get back up. But what is certain is that we will try again.
The debrief’
“Hugo tried from afar, I think he started too early, but he has been so focused on winning since the beginning of the season, and his desire to win is such that for me this is the explanation for his start in the 500 metres. I don’t come to the races to make 5 and 6 places, I think that being placed as he was, there was in my opinion better to go for today. Now it’s like that, it’s by making mistakes that we learn. I hope that this will serve as a lesson for us, because with the level we have, a stage like this we have to win. But there are still other opportunities to come on these 4 Jours de Dunkerque to do well, I have total confidence in my riders to go and seize them”.