FDJ sports director Frédéric Guesdon was pleased with his troops in the Three Days of West Flanders. With four young neo-pros and two experienced riders looking for form, he believes that the event was very beneficial to his group in terms of work and experience.

"I had six riders at the start," he says. "Four youngsters discovering Belgium and two older who are not yet at the top. Tonight I am sure that this race was good for everyone even if it was not evident from the results.

"Yesterday Marc Sarreau should have taken a place of honor but he suffered from a crash in the pack and it's a shame because it would have been good for his morale. Today, Olivier Le Gac had no trouble keeping his place in the first group of 50 riders from which Anthony Geslin was dropped due to a puncture.

"Overall, my riders did well. Today it was important to be in a good position at the bottom of the Kemmelberg and for the flat sections where there was a risk of echelons and they were there. But Lorenzo Manzin has not raced much since the Tour Down Under in January, Marc Sarreau was sick after the Etoile de Bessèges, and Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier  was not in his favorite terrain.

"Olivier Le Gac was more to this but he will be even better in the Ardennes. It is important for him to discover the different races and to take stock at the end of the season. For now, he makes me think of Philippe Gilbert at the same age, agile in the mountains and on the climbs."