French cyclist Christophe Laporte has been left emotional and thankful after being gifted victory in the Gent-Wevelgem cycling 'classic' in Belgium by his all-powerful teammate Wout van Aert.
On a rain-sodden afternoon which sank the hopes of Australian star Caleb Ewan, van Aert's selfless gesture illuminated one of the season's great races on Sunday.
After van Aert and Laporte broke away with 50km to go, working brilliantly together in a dominant display by the Dutch team Jumbo-Visma on the roads of Flanders, they had the luxury of coming home alone almost two minutes clear of their nearest pursuers.
Superstar van Aert would have been the overwhelming favourite to take the victory in one of the season's biggest races in Belgium but, generously, asked his teammate if he wanted to cross the line first.
No wonder the 34-year-old Laporte sounded almost tearful as he related what had happened after they sat up and chatted in the run-in, clasping hands as they approached the line.
"Wout asked me if I wanted to win. It's incredible. It's a pleasure. This has happened only once before in my career. I want to thank Wout for everything," said Laporte.
"I've never won a classic before, and now I'm so proud. I think of my family and my little boy - it has taken so much sacrifice to get to this point.
"There was still 50 kilometres to go when we attacked. We made a lot of efforts together. We did everything to go to the finish together.
"It was hard for me to follow Wout. It was just incredible to be with him, and I'm so proud to do so much of it with him."
Van Aert was coming off a brilliant successful defence of his E3 Saxo Classic on Friday and looked as if he could have raced to the win whenever he wished.
"I won on Friday, and my eyes are on the races that are coming," said van Aert, who's favourite to take one of the season's 'Monument' races at the Tour of Flanders next Sunday.
"Christophe also had a difficult start to the season with a sickness, and he's such a team player that it was an easy decision for me."
Sprint star Ewan was hoping to break a fairly uninspiring run of late but never figured in the difficult conditions, ultimately ending up 66th, some six minutes behind the winner.
Four places ahead of him was Jayco-AlUla's Luke Durbridge, the leading Aussie finisher in 62nd.
Switzerland's Marlen Reusser defied the conditions in a crash-strewn contest and made up for taking a wrong turn with just five kilometres left before she soloed to victory in the women's race.
