Kris Boeckmans and Jasper de Buyst made it a 1-2 for Lotto Soudal in the first stage of the Tour de Picardie. Below we have gathered some reactions from Directvelo.

Daniel McLay (Bretagne-Séché Environnement) 3rd

"Third is good for the morale. I could not aim for first or second place because of the crasj, but that's a good start. As we approached the last corner I had to be 5th or 6th, they fell on the left and I had to take a very sharp turn. I had to stop my effort for a few meters and the gap became too big for me. As Jonathan Hivert was present in the break, the team did not have to chase and I was able to take bonuses at the finish it's quite a good day for us. For the two remaining srages, I aim for the top and I hope to take a victory."

Benjamin Giraud (Team Marseille 13-KTM) 7th

"I still finished in the top 10 but I'm a little disappointed. I was slowed down by the crash in the sprint as I had good legs. I want to criticize the organization because this kind of finish, it's like sending us to the slaughter. There had already been a crash in the 4 Jours de Dunkerque and then we crash again. On this type of stage where it may end in a sprint, we could have had beautiful roads with long straights. The rest of the day went well for us. We wanted to put someone in the break to take bonuses, because they are important for the GC. We expected that large teams like FDJ, Europcar and Lotto-Soudal would control the race, so we did not panic. I feel very good right now, I am not cooked after the 4 Days (of Dunkirk, ed) and I will do everything to get a win in the next two days." 

Fabien Canal (Armee) 3rd overall and leading the points classification 

"It was a very good day. I had to ride with my heart, I did not want to stay in the peloton. I went out hunting the leaders. They did not wait for me right away and I had to make a time trial of 15 km to get there. Subsequently, I did what I had to do. I had to win the intermediate sprints jersey because we need it right now. I have made a fairly large effort to get back to the leading group so I'm a little tired. I will try to recover well and we'll see later."