It wasn't quite snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, but it was snatching defeat from the jaws of the chance of victory at the E3 Saxo Classic on Friday.
As Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and a chasing quartet wiggled their way around the famous housing estate which marks the end of the race, it seemed inevitable that the two groups would join up. The gap dropped below 10 seconds, then five, then one of the riders behind could have chucked a bottle at the Belgian.
However, then something remarkable happened. Just as Van der Poel looked behind him, and appeared to sit up, he surged again. Behind, Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) refused to pull, as did the other three of Per Strand Hagenes (Visma-Lease a Bike) Stan Dewulf (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility).
Van der Poel was gone. He had been in their grasp, practically caught, his flame all but extinguished, but he somehow managed to rise again from the embers. One thing is for certain, it looked very silly. "I thought they were coming back," Van der Poel said, except they weren't.
It looked silly, but it was all down to psychology. No one in the chasing group wanted to spend the energy to bring Van der Poel back, and then not have the energy left to sprint again at the finish line, or be vulnerable to an attack from behind. Van der Poel had no tactics to think about, apart from going all in to the finish line.
The oft-repeated cliché is that you have to risk it all to win, and none of the chasing group were prepared to put it all on the line. It ended in a bit of a damp squib.
"I'm glad we were able to stay in the lead, but I'm still left with a bit of a sour feeling," Vermeersch, who finished third, explained at the finish.
“Then the cooperation suddenly disappeared. I thought: I’m not going to put all my cards on the table here. I’d rather let Mathieu ride. Then we’ll sprint for second place. That’s racing. I’m certainly not angry with my fellow escapees. This is part of it."
“It is a real shame, because I felt there was more in it," he continued. "Especially due to the bad luck before the Kortekeer [Vermeersch was forced to change bike and chase the peloton]. "The race could have looked different, but I certainly wouldn't say I could have followed Mathieu.
"As it was, I mainly raced defensively. I did manage to snatch a podium spot, but I always say: I race to win. I would love to be two places higher up the leaderboard sometime."
For his part, Strand Hagenes said: "I think for me second place is a great result, we have to be honest about this. When you see how close you get you hope you can fight to win, but you know you’re going to start playing around a bit in the finale with the group we were sitting in. Unfortunately, we didn’t catch him and couldn’t sprint for the win, but that’s racing. Second place, I think, is a really good result for me.
"There wasn’t a lot of talking. Vermeersch wanted Abrahamsen to do one more pull, he didn’t want to do it, I don’t want to do it, Vermeersch didn’t want to just sit and close it. That’s racing, and it ended up being what it was."
In the results, Van der Poel simply won a third successive E3 crown, with a group behind. However, it could have been so different, a career-defining win for any other the riders in that chasing group. One moment of hesitation, one easing of the pace, and the Dutchman was gone. For him, it was victory snatched from the jaws of defeat.
