To the informal onlooker it might have seemed to be yet one more zany finish-line celebration: Lewis Askey trailing his proper leg out and punching the air together with his proper hand as he received stage two of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque, like an odd, lycra-clad model of the hokey cokey.
However the Groupama-FDJ rider had truly pulled his foot out of the pedal within the remaining dash after attempting a bit too laborious.
“My shoe got here out as a result of I used to be wanting to offer it every thing, a bit an excessive amount of even,” stated the 24-year-old Brit afterwards.
Askey’s victory noticed him romp house on the head of a full bunch dash after a lumpy 178km stage to Crépy en Valois. was solely his second win on the high stage, the primary of which got here solely per week in the past on the Boucles de l’Aulne on the opposite facet of northern France. That was a win that set him on a roll, he advised his workforce web site.
“Final week’s victory actually gave me confidence,” he stated. “I knew that immediately’s end actually suited me. We put strain on ourselves this morning, the entire workforce labored very well for me and that boosted me for the dash.
“This 12 months, the workforce has given me the chance and the possibility to race as chief, and it is nice to have the ability to reward everybody.”
The stage yielded two locations on the rostrum for British riders, with Sam Watson of Ineos Grenadiers coming in third and Norway’s Sakarias Koller Løland (Uno X-Mobility) sandwiched between the 2.
His win put Askey in second place total concurrently Alex Zinglé (Visma-Lease a Bike), with Ben Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) third at two seconds and team-mate Watson ninth at six seconds.
Two key levels on Friday and Saturday, that includes loads of cobbles and, on Saturday, loads of climbs, are prone to determine the race, with a flat day to Dunkerque to complete off on Sunday.
Askey – a former winner of the junior Paris Roubaix in 2018 – has a confirmed document on the cobbles that can stand him in good stead with a view to contending for the highest spot over the following couple of days.
“The final classification shall be determined primarily on the fourth day and we’ll attempt to do our greatest,” Askey stated.
