Cavagna wins Dwars door West-Vlaanderen

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Remi Cavagna landed his first victory as a professional as Quick-Step Floors dominated their second Belgian semi-classic in the space of a week.

"It was super hard and cold today, but I felt good since the start of the race," Cavagna said. "Actually, I have been feeling good since last season and have waited for this victory for a long time. I wanted this win so badly, I can’t tell you how important it’s for me to finally get it. I have made mistakes in the past, attacking too early, so today I said to myself'‘Don’t attack, wait, wait, wait!' and it worked out perfectly in the end."

After Niki Terpstra won Le Samyn in a one-two with Philippe Gilbert, Cavagna did the same with compatriot Florian Senechal. 

When the race came to life with just under 50km remaining, the duo went clear together in a three-man group alongside Lotto Soudal's Frederik Frison. They made the move work and there was little Frison could do when Cavagna, 22, went it alone with 7km to go. 

Senechal left Frison in sight of the line to make it a Quick-Step one-two, while neo-pro Fabio Jakobsen took fourth from the next group of four, which also contained fellow neo-pro Jhonatan Narvaez.

"We had the upper hand in that group, but Frison was really strong and at one point I even got dropped on the cobbles, but kept calm, knowing I had enough left in the tank," Cavagna explained. "My legs were really hurting, but I ignored the pain and managed to come back, and then I launched a now-or-never attack, powering ahead with all I had. I needed this win and it gives me a huge boost of confidence and even more motivation for the next races."

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