After the chasing group came exceedingly close but failed to catch Mathieu van der Poel in the dying moments of the E3 Saxo Classic, Visma-Lease a Bike insisted their second-placed finisher Per Strand Hagenes "made no mistake" in the surprising finale.
Hagenes, 22, was perhaps not the rider Visma thought they would have in contention for the win on Friday, but suddenly he was in a late chase group closing down on Van der Poel in the final kilometres.
However, despite coming within metres of the eventual winner in the final kilometre, the four chasers failed to actually make the junction to the winner, with Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) holding off to ask for one last turn, and not getting it from his companions Hagenes, Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) and day-long breakaway rider Stan Dewulf (Decathlon CMA CGM).
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Hagenes managed second as Van der Poel grabbed a third title in Harelbeke, and was diplomatic in his assessment of the finale.
"Vermeersch wanted someone to do one more pull. He doesn't want to do it. I don't want to do it, Vermeersch also don't want to just sit and close it. So that's racing," he said at the finish.
The Norwegian's sports director, however, was much less reserved in his evaluation of the situation, defending his rider and laying blame at one rider who should have taken that final pull: Abrahamsen.
"In my opinion, Per made no mistakes, because like what I just mentioned, there was very good collaboration, that was the reason they almost caught back Van der Poel," Visma DS Arthur Van Dongen told Cyclingnews and Domestique.
"We were close, so it was possible, but in the final kilometre Vermeersch took a long [turn] then Per took over so was also good, but then Abrahamsen decided to not pull anymore and then it was over.
"Dewulf was already a long time in the break, so OK, but it was Abrahamsen and he decided to not pull anymore. He's free to do that, everyone has his own tactics, but in our opinion Per made no mistakes."
As Van Dongen said, the group had been working well together, but it was that split-second of all four riders hesitating that meant it was the podium and minor placings for the chasers, not the win.
For the Dutch director, there was clearly a certain level of frustration, but also praise for their rider achieving second in a big Classic and being in contention for the win at all.
"But we were very close. It was possible [to win], but second is still very good for such a young rider as Per Strand Hagenes," Van Dongen said.
"He showed already as an under-23 rider that he was one of the best of his age, so that's no surpise, he was also very strong in races like Denain for example. But now this is on WorldTour level, it's the next step. It looks good for him for the future, but also for the next races.
"He's not there on Sunday but on Wednesday, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Ronde van Vlaanderen, and also Paris-Roubaix suit him very well."
It was a similar sentiment for the young rider, quickly looking past the frustration to the positives of second place in a top-level race.
"I think for me, the second place is a great result. We have to be honest about this," Hagenes said.
"Of course, when you you see how close we get, you hope that you can fight for the win, but you know, you're going to start playing around a little bit in the final and then unfortunately, we don't catch him and sprint for the win, but that's racing. And second place is, I think, a really, really good result for me, so I'm quite happy about it."
'The team is on a good track'
With no Wout van Aert, Matteo Jorgenson nor Matthew Brennan in their roster on Friday, Visma already started the day perhaps a step down on teams like Alpecin-Premier Tech and Lidl-Trek, but finishing second regardless was a positive sign ahead of the races to come.
With Van Aert and Brennan returning already on Sunday, the hope at the Dutch squad will be that the injection of star power can convert Friday's runner-up spot into a win in the next days and weeks.
"It's always nice to have Wout van Aert in the team," Van Dongen said. "But you saw today that we're still aiming for the win and it was a good team so we are happy with it.
"Timo was very good in the break, Christophe was good, not super, but he was good. I think with these guys we took the maximum out of today. And then Wout and Matthew will join us for the next races, Gent-Wevelgem [In Flanders Fields] and Dwars door Vlaanderen, so the team is on a good track."
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