Politt explains why he went so deep, he couldn't sprint anymore: "Tratnik was playing games a bit"

Nils Politt appeared strong, and on paper, he had the fastest sprint, but Omloop Het Nieuwsblad never really became a sprint-á-deux. Jan Tratnik had the freshest legs, after Politt had done most of the work to stay ahead with the two of them in the ultimate finale.

"It's the second time I finish second here. Visma | Lease a Bike was very strong today, they made the race very hard from the start," Politt begins his analysis in the flash interview. When he broke away with Tratnik in the finale, he didn't hesitate for a moment. "I knew there were fast men behind in the group, with De Lie and Van Aert. So, I take this second place, it's a great result."

Asked if he shouldn't have ridden a bit less hard, to save something for the sprint, Politt shakes his head. "Maybe I could have done it differently, but Tratnik was playing games a bit and had already said earlier that he couldn't really keep up. I had to go and was empty at the end. It was better for me to finish second than nothing."

Politt wanted to break away with someone from Visma | Lease a Bike

That Politt ended up in a winning position was a minor miracle in the race. The race seemed decided with a strong breakaway group, but the peloton caught up on the Kapelmuur. "Our plan was to try something with Tim Wellens on the Kapelmuur, and he also made the cross. I stayed behind and eventually also got to the front. When Tratnik went, and Visma still had so many men, I knew I had to go with one of their guys. We immediately had a good gap, although we had to keep riding with De Lie's team chasing us."