Laurence Petit (Groupama-FDJ) has always found himself in elite groups in the hardest races on the calendar. In last month's Cune-Brussel-Cuneux, he was in a decisive breakaway with Wout Van Aert. On Sunday in Gent-Wevelgem, he raced with Mathieu van der Pol (Alpecin-Desseuninck) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) on the steep final Kemmelberg gradient.

Like Kuhne, Pitti's performance was given little credit in the results table. A 26th place finish in the peloton, 16 seconds behind winner Pedersen, does not tell the story of Pitti's assured Ghent-Wevelgem debut. [Pitti was there when the peloton was first broken up by a crosswind at De Molen with 150km to go.

Pitti remained in the lead group of seven when Van der Pol again prevailed on the Plugstreet dirt road, and he was the only one able to keep up with the world champion and Pedersen on the second climb of the Kemmelberg.

The 21-year-old then took the lesson from Kuhne and carefully focused his efforts on the final climb. The fact that Pedersen and van der Pol had essentially implicitly agreed to do what they could to distance themselves from him on the final climb is a testament to his burgeoning reputation.

"I think I played my cards right today," Petit said. 'I cooperated with Mads and Van der Pol when I had to. When Van der Pol went into the plug street between the first and second Kemmel, I was able to stay with Van der Pol. I've never been in that deep before. It was a great race

"When those two go, it's very hard to keep up with them, so I took a gamble in the last race to hold back a bit and save my legs. But it was a tactical decision."

"In Coulee, I got dropped when I was paired with Wout Van Aert and some other guys. I still got dropped, but I'm happy with my run."

Pittis' quick finish led him to the overall lead in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and Paris-Nice. No wonder Pedersen and van der Pol did not risk taking him to the finish in Wevelgem

"I tried to run tactically and gambled a bit to get over the last Kemmel. If I could have finished with them, I would have started running, but in the end I didn't have the legs to keep up. Still, I am proud to have run with the world champions and former world champions. Still, I'm proud to have run with world champions and former world champions.

Pitti's run here was no fluke. For example, when the peloton was first split in Des Molen, he had to pass the fallen riders to get where he was supposed to be. He said, "In fact, I was so far behind that I had to dodge a lot of riders to get into the pack."

Easier said than done, but nothing seemed to weigh on Petit. When a member of the press tried to break off the exchange and escort him to the Groupama-FDJ bus at the finish, Petit politely brushed off the idea. No, it's okay," he said. It's not cold."

For the umpteenth time this season, Petit also patiently answered the age-old pesky question about what kind of rider he is. 'Classic guy, all-around sprinter, I'll try to do it all.'

The Christchurch native will make his Grand Tour debut at the Giro d'Italia, but has two more urgent plans in Belgium. 'I'll try again at Dwars door Hlaanderen and then next week in Flanders.'

Pitti, of course, has already done a lot here. When Ridle Trek attacked, Pitti had the strength to get into the lead group and let Van der Pol do most of the pacemaking. He got beat up a little bit by Trek," Pitti said."

"It's hell on the bike," he smiled. 'My legs were completely blown off. I tried to get up and almost fell backwards. I was lucky to finish in the lead. I tried to push hard on the downhill to make up some ground, but the gap was too big."

"But it's a great effort. It's another big step forward to be able to stay with them for that long."

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