Bjorg Lambrecht, second, said: “I’m a little bit disappointed, but I have to be happy that we take another medal. The Belgian team is happy with it. My team Lotto-Soudal is also happy that I made the podium. I felt that I was the strongest on the climb, but I knew since last year’s Tour de l’Avenir that Marc Hirschi was very good in riding downhill and I’m not the best descender myself.”

Jaakko Hänninen, third, said: “It’s nice to race against the best U23 riders in the world, although some of them are already professional cyclists when I’m an amateur. They were also riding in teams while I was the only one from Finland. But the course today was hard so it was more the legs to do the talking. I tried to save as much energy as possible in the first part of the race. The last part was more about having the legs.”

Romain Bardet, second, said: “On a flat finish, it was hard to beat a guy like Alejandro Valverde. Earlier, I was hoping for Julian [Alaphilippe] or Thibaut [Pinot] to come back but once it came down to a sprint on the flat, I knew I’m not faster than this guy. Unfortunately, Julian wasn’t able to follow us in the last climb because he had cramps. I had a mechanical at the top and I was afraid to lose everything at that moment but everyone’s legs were burning and I didn’t lose ground.”

Michael Woods, third, said: “It’s certainly a slight surprise for me to make the podium but I was hoping for this. It was my goal coming into this race. When we did the course recon, I realized this last climb was for me. When drafting isn’t important, I’m pretty good. Up the Höll, my ears were ringing because the people were so loud and I could hear their cow bells. Even before the race, I told myself I’d try to get inspiration and energy from what the fans bring to the race. There were so many fans today! Coming from another sport, it’s been hard for me to believe that I could win when so good riders are in the field but my stage victory at La Vuelta helped me boost my confidence. Now I’m starting to believe in myself.”