SHEFFIELD BATTLES TO SIXTH IN FLANDERS

TOUR OF FLANDERS, 270.8KM

Magnus Sheffield claimed a hard-fought sixth place at a memorable edition of the Tour of Flanders.

The American secured his first-ever top 10 in a Monument Classic with a gutsy performance across an epic 270.8 kilometres.

Sheffield weathered a number of attacks and splits in the front group, before finishing strongly over the final passes of the iconic Kwaremont and Paterberg climbs. The Grenadier found himself in a chase group battling for second place on the run into Oudenaarde. Despite taking seventh over the line, he was elevated to sixth place following the relegation of Michael Matthews (Team Jayco AlUla).

Josh Tarling impressed once again on his Flanders debut, finishing 17^th in the next group home after rebounding from an earlier crash. Ben Turner had led the race up the Paterberg for the first time, but in the closing stages would lose time on the treacherous Koppenberg – with a number of riders forced to dismount on the steep, wet ramps.

it was on this same climb that Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) launched his winning move. The Dutchman quickly opened up a gap, which he held to the finish with a margin of one minute and two seconds.

The Grenadiers combined well as a team during the day, placing five riders in the lead peloton heading into the final 60 kilometres, including Laurens De Plus, who was also making his Flanders debut.