What fails in the Giro succeeds in France, Zingle wins first stage in Dunkirk: "I'm not the fastest sprinter at the start"

The victory came out of the blue, even for Zingle himself. "I'm not the fastest sprinter at the start, but I know I can position myself well in the final kilometers," he said on the team's website after his victory. "Thankfully, everything went perfectly today. I'm incredibly happy with this win, especially after being involved in a crash at the finish yesterday." In the Classique Dunkerque, the sprinter could not compete for the victory: he finished 109th after the crash.

The victory is a massive boost for Zingle. In the Tour of the Basque Country, he crashed out in the fifth stage, which meant he had to miss the Ardennes classics. "These races were really my main goal," he said after the crash. "My shoulder is still too fragile to race, so the focus is now on rehabilitation. Fortunately, I am recovering well, but these races are coming too soon."

Winning on his second day of racing after his crash in Spain couldn't have gone any better. "We came here as a team aiming for stage wins, and it’s fantastic to already have one in the bag," he said. But now the Frenchman wants to continue his momentum together with his team. "With both Per and myself well-placed in the GC, it would be great if we could hold onto those positions in the coming days." Zingle will logically start the second day as leader; Strand Hagenes picked up bonus seconds in the early breakaway and is third.