Meanwhile, outside Rwanda: Kooij and Brennan deliver a masterful 1-2, Kogut beats Groenewegen, and Scaroni wins in Italy

First up was the race in France with the GP d'Isbergues. A flat one-day race in the north of the country, where quite a few sprinters were at the start. With names such as Olav Kooij, Matthew Brennan, Arvid de Kleijn, and Elia Viviani, there was plenty to enjoy. The early breakaway riders Dries De Bondt, Gianni Vermeersch, and Axel van der Tuuk, therefore, had little to contribute.

The windy race was controlled by the sprinter teams in the last 10 kilometers, after which a sprint was expected. That sprint came: Brennan pulled perfectly for Kooij, who finished it off easily. The Brit also finished second himself: a wonderful celebration for Visma | Lease a Bike.

In the Gooikse Pijl, it was also a sprint. Breakaway riders Gil Gelders (Soudal Quick-Step) and Fabio Van den Bossche (Alpecin-Deceuninck) held on for a long, long time in Belgium, but the peloton caught them in the last 2 kilometers. It came down to a sprint, and Oded Kogut (Israel - Premier Tech) was the fastest, ahead of Dylan Groenewegen, who finished second again after the Tour of Flanders.

Then on to Italy. The Giro della Romagna was a lot tougher than the two races in northern Europe. With the steep Volture di Romagna in the course, it was a perfect fit for XDS-Astana, the only WorldTour team at the start.

They also made the race in the hills. A group of about 15 favorites emerged, after which Christian Scaroni unleashed his demons about 20 kilometers from the finish. No one could keep up with his acceleration, and with teammate Simone Velasco in the chasing group, he had a great distraction. That's how Scaroni won the race: Ivan Cobo (Equipo Kern Pharma) finished second, ahead of Velasco.