German champion Andre Greipel showed great endurance to fight his way back into the leading group after the Poggio, but ultimately ran out of steam when it came to competing in the final sprint. The Lotto-Belisol man finished at the back of the first group of riders across the line, with team-mate Jurgen Roelandts for company. However, it proved once more the Gorilla is capable of mixing it over the modest climbs, something he did with aplomb in Adelaide and Oman.

All of which raises the question as to which direction Lotto-Belisol will go at the cobbled Classics. Last year, Greipel was deployed as a domestique for Roelandts, repaying the role his chief lead-out man had perfected for him in the stage races. Having hung with Peter Sagan and Fabian Cancellara at Milan-San Remo however – albeit only just – does the German have the legs to do it himself? He finished 11th at last year’s Gent-Wevelgem, and while the Ronde is much hillier, team boss Marc Sergeant may have an interesting decision to make next month.