Cobbled Classics win number 62 just wasn't to be for Soudal-QuickStep at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday. The Belgian team have racked up the wins through spring every year since their foundation back in 2003, but through 21 editions of the Belgian season openers have 'only' four on the collective palmarès.
There are plenty of races and plenty of chances left this spring. This is, after all, the first of the lot. But for a team used to winning and being the best at it in the peloton, Davide Ballerini's sixth place in Ninove wasn't an occasion for celebration.
First up, there was Kasper Asgreen's illness keeping the 2021 Tour of Flanders winner and Classics co-leader out of action, and then, during the race itself, perennial domestique of the year contender Tim Declercq was taken out of the running due to a crash.
There was bad luck, then, but of the riders who were contesting the second half of a race dominated by Dutch squad Jumbo-Visma, it just wasn't a good enough showing.
"It's not only the result here today. Ballerini was sixth, but he was never in the race," Wilfred Peeters, former Classics star and lead directeur sportif at the team, told Cyclingnews after the race.
"OK, we had a bad moment with the crash of Tim Declercq. but we were riding behind today and we'll take away a little lesson about this.
"It's not the first time here that we have not had good results. But we can see that we've won in the UAE with Merlier and we've won in the Ardeche with Alaphilippe as well. Coming towards the first part of the Classics we can be happy about this."
Yves Lampaert, a co-leader at Omloop along with Frenchman Florian Sénéchal, briefly stopped at the finish – few riders had much inclination to do so in the freezing conditions – to give his perspective.
"There is work to be done. We had our share of bad luck – Declercq falling, Sénéchal having bad luck [a crash – Ed.]. It wasn't our day. Ballerini rode a strong final, though," the Belgian told the assembled media just past the finish line.
"I had to put my foot down on the Muur. When you do that, you know your race is over. This isn't what we were hoping for."
Peeters admitted that his team got it wrong on a day which saw Jumbo set the pace early, taking command and attacking several times before Dylan van Baarle's ultimately successful long-range effort.
"I think the guys realise it wasn't good. You could see it from halfway through the race – with their first acceleration, Jumbo-Visma immediately rode away," he told Het Nieuwsblad. "We had agreed before the race not to take control, but that doesn't mean we fall asleep. We should have been with that – if you have to chase once, you chase for the whole day."
Sunday is another day, though, bringing with it the second half of Opening Weekend in the shape of the more sprinter-friendly Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne.
It's the spring race QuickStep have experienced the most joy at, having won nine times over the years, including three of the past four editions with Bob Jungels, Asgreen, and, last year, with Fabio Jakobsen.
The Dutch sprinter will be again on Sunday to salvage an Opening Weekend result for the team, and Ballerini, Lampaert and Sénéchal will be back to help him out, too. Last year, team boss Patrick Lefevere was on hand to give the squad a 'motivational speech' of sorts ahead of Kuurne following a disappointing showing at Omloop.
Peeters, however, sounded a word of warning for anyone expecting it to be a guaranteed sprint finish with Jakobsen zooming to his second win of the season.
"The race is hard, eh? It's harder and harder every year. It's not only for the sprinters. But we hope to do well."
