by Bruno Fleckenstein
The 293-kilometer spring classic on March 23, 2019, produced a surprise winner in Frenchman Julian Alanphilippe. The climbing specialist of the Deceuninck-Quick-Step team, who won the mountain classification in last year's Tour de France, was able to demonstrate his sprinter qualities in the final sprint.
Behind Alanphilippe, several favorites crossed the finish line. Michael Kwiatkowski crossed the finish line in third place, followed by Peter Sagan. Alejandro Valverde was seventh, Vinzenco Nibali eighth. Tom Dumoulin and Michael Matthews of Team Sunweb finished 11th and 12th.
The unlucky man of the race was John Degenkolb. Although he expressed confidence before the start and said: "I'm in the form of 2015", his chain fell out shortly before the end, which meant the end for him.
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