It was no surprise that SD Walks won in Ghent-Wevelgem, but many would have expected either Lotte Kopecky or Lorena Wiebes to win. Instead, Marlen Reusser won solo with 40 km to go, with a 2:42 advantage.

"Sometimes you don't know the other teams. It's good for us, but if I were the sport director, I would tell the riders to run or attack immediately. But nobody did, so we gave Marlen free time," Kopecky noted after the race.

Things were a bit chaotic after the group crash, but Reusser, who has won three time trial world championship medals and a silver medal in the TT at the Tokyo Olympics, is one of those riders who can be very dangerous if he shows the slightest opening.

Christine Majerus was on Reusser's wheel when they started in Baneberg. She then pulled away when the Swiss all-rounder set up more digs.

"Maren is very strong. I saw her go on the uphill and thought, 'Oh, she's gone. And I never saw her come back. I wasn't surprised at all that she won the race single-handedly. Everyone knows how good she is. To win a classic race like Ghent-Wevelgem, I'm very happy for her," Kopecky said of her teammate.

The 27-year-old Belgian is no stranger to solo wins: after top sprinter Vives joined the team, Kopecký changed focus and took solo wins in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Nokele Koase.

And the solo victory was still a team effort: Kopecký and Majerus did their best to disrupt the cohesion by sabotaging the other teams when they finally started their chase to help Reusser. This strength in numbers paid off for the SD Volks throughout the Spring Classic.

"It's a luxury for us. This is the strength of our team and we are very happy to be able to do this," Kopecky said.

The Belgian stopped to make sure his teammates Vives and Cecchini were safe after a late-race crash, eventually finishing 69th.

"Lorena went into the gutter, she crashed and so did Elena Cecchini. I was just behind her and Lorena was screaming, so I stopped and looked. In the end, I think she just got a little shocked. I hope she's not hurt too much," Kopecky said, thinking of her teammate.