The 25-year-old became the first Frenchman to take the laurels at the nine-decade-old kermesse.
Quick-Step Floors' incredible season continued on Tuesday afternoon, when our team made use of the numerical advantage it possessed in the hectic and selective finale of the 86th Textielprijs Vichte and claimed another win, just 48 years after concluding Vuelta a España in style on the streets of Madrid.
This time, it was Florian Sénéchal who got to enjoy his moment in the spotlight, with a powerful sprint in the closing 100 meters of the Belgian race which was blown to pieces as soon as the second lap, where twelve riders made the cut in the strong crosswinds, opening a one-minute gap.
Quick-Step Floors were well-represented there, with reigning champion Iljo Keisse, Sénéchal and Danish stagiaire Mikkel Honoré, who drilled it at the front, helping the group increase their margin to two minutes, from which moment on it became clear the victory will be played between the leaders. On the last lap, Honoré attacked together with Oliver Naesen (AG2R), but it wasn't long before they were joined by Florian and Sep Vanmarcke (EF Education First).
It looked like it will be a four-man sprint, only for Keisse to come strong from behind after a phenomenal late surge which took his opponents by surprise. The Belgian didn't stop there and immediately moved to the front, leading out Sénéchal, whose rapid acceleration couldn't be matched by Naesen and Vanmarcke, as he blasted to his maiden victory for Quick-Step Floors at the end of the 175km-long race which both Mikkel and Iljo concluded in the top five.
"I am so happy, especially as this success came in a race which had a strong field. We rode full gas from the beginning and in the last laps the attacks poured in, but our team shut them down every time. Then we tested the waters with Mikkel, and when he was reeled in, we decided to go for the sprint. Iljo did a great job and all I had to do was to kick out 100 meters from the finish. I am very happy with my maiden win for this fantastic team and already looking forward now to Tour de l'Eurométropole and Grand Prix d'Isbergues, this weekend", said Florian after Quick-Step Floors' sixth victory in twelve years at Textielprijs Vichte.
Photo credit: ©Justin Setterfield/ Getty Images
