It seems bizarre at best to call Etixx-QuickStep losers after second-place finishes in each of the four WorldTour cobbled Classics.

Niki Terpstra was runner-up at Gent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders, with those results sandwiched by Zdenek Stybar’s second-place finishes at E3 Harelbeke and Paris-Roubaix.

But the Belgian super team boast a fierce reputation on the cobbles and no matter how close they came, no wins is no wins and that falls below their super high standards.

The tone was set at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, when Terpstra, Stijn Vandenbergh and Tom Boonen somehow contrived to lose to Ian Stannard from a four-man attack.

Stybar then had no response for Geraint Thomas’ acceleration at E3 Harelbeke, while Niki Terpstra’s well-timed attack served only to carry Alexander Kristoff to the finish line at the Tour of Flanders.

Stybar and Lampaert then had strength in numbers in the front group on the final run-in at Paris-Roubaix but could not make it pay.

Tactical mishaps have cost them dearly – particularly when you consider the strength in depth QuickStep have.

Having had Tom Boonen out injured for the WorldTour cobbled Classics, perhaps they are not yet ready to fill the Belgian legend’s shoes.