Luke Lamperti claimed the first WorldTour win of his career, as he took the victory in the bunch sprint on the opening stage of Paris-Nice. It was also the first win of the season for EF Education-EasyPost, as they finally got off the mark after a difficult start to the year.The victory was far from easy for the American rider, as a challenging finishing circuit featuring the Côte de Chanteloup-les-Vignes meant that the breakaway was only caught with just over a kilometre to go to the finish in Carrières-sous-Poissy. However, the positioning and leadout from his teammate Marijn van den Berg meant that none of his rivals were able to come around him once he launched his sprint in the final few hundred metres.“It’s super special”, the EF Education-EasyPost rider stated in his post-race interview. “I think it’s no secret that the team’s been struggling. We’ve had a rough start to the year, but you always know it will come. It’s still early and to get a victory here is super nice. The team rode full all day, we committed and it paid off. We’ve been knocking on the door, but to actually get the job done is super special. It’s also my first victory with the team and it’s a nice way to start.”When asked about the difficulty of the finishing circuit, Lamperti said, “the climb was quite, but we had Max [Walker] in the break and he was super strong. We had a few cards to play if the break made it, so that was also okay for us. Then we came back and did the sprint, so in the end it was a beautiful day.”Speaking about the final kilometre, he went on to say, “it was super hectic. We had [Kasper] Asgreen and [Alastair] Mackellar there, and then Marijn van den Berg was the last guy. We started quite early, he went from far, but luckily he was super strong and he did maybe 350m himself to deliver me into the last 200m, so in the end I just had to do the final few metres on my own.”A major result like this had certainly been on the cards for Lamperti after top-ten results at both Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne last weekend, and he has certainly made himself one to watch for the rest of the Spring Classics.On the confidence this win will give him for the races ahead, he said “I know I’ve been going well. To actually get a win and get the momentum rolling, especially as a sprinter, is really important. For me, it's the biggest win I’ve had in my career, so it will be great for the rest of the season and for the Classics.”Having moved across to EF Education-EasyPost after two years at Soudal Quick-Step, Lamperti was asked about how he has settled into his new team, to which he said, “of course it’s different, but it’s been super nice. I already feel quite at home and I’ve enjoyed it a lot, so I think so far I really can’t complain with the new team.”Victory on the opening stage also meant that the American rider pulled on the yellow jersey, as he took the overall lead of the race ahead of another sprint stage tomorrow, with the race heading south from Épône to Montargis.“To have the jersey tomorrow will be super special. It's my first WorldTour win, my first time wearing a WorldTour leader’s jersey, so a lot of firsts this week, but it will be nothing but nice,” said Lamperti.
