Beyond the finish line of the Tour of Flanders in Oudenaarde Fred Wright didn't seem to know whether to be elated, disappointed, grateful or rueful. He was all of those things but in the cocktail shaker of post-race emotion, one ingredient kept rising to the top: sheer joy.
As he attempted to parse 274km of relentless Monument racing into some sort of coherent narrative, every so often a grin would crack across his face.
"I love this race, man," he blurted at one point. "It's fucking brilliant."
At that moment, Fred Wright was all of us.
Wright placed eighth in the end, coming home in the chase group behind solo winner Tadej Pogačar and solo runner-up Mathieu van der Poel. On paper, it was a step down from his seventh-place finish last year – which was really his breakthrough as a professional rider – but by all other metrics, it was a step up.
Tour of Flanders: Tadej Pogacar wins alone after stunning Kwaremont attack
Van der Poel: I had no answer to Pogacar on the Kwaremont at Tour of Flanders
'The legs have spoken' – Tour of Flanders stays out of reach for Van Aert
'Man, it gives me chills' – Powless fifth in remarkable Tour of Flanders debut
"I was definitely more there than I was last year - I got further into the race feeling better," Wright said.
"We got to the Koppenberg ahead of the three superhumans and that was looking good and I was like 'OK, I'm in a better place than I was last year – I'm not just hanging on for dear life. But I was just hanging on for dear life."
It was always in Wright's plan to anticipate, but when Bahrain Victorious leader Matej Mohorič came down in the early mass crash, his role became even more vital. He set off with a strong group of second-tier contenders on the Molenberg with 100km remaining and they built a lead of three minutes – enough to take them deep into the finale.
"Early on in the race we had a bit of a plan to give it some in the crosswind sections and the boys did a great job – start the race early, see what happens. That really benefited us.
"It was a shame about the crashes. I actually got caught up behind a couple, and Matej wasn't feeling his best after his crash so said 'Fred, make sure you follow'. We kind of knew that the area where my move went would be key and it was."
Wright then survived the selections over the second lap of the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg, then over the Koppenberg, Taaienberg, and Oude Kruisberg. However, Pogačar and Van der Poel were advancing from behind and would soon be out in front on the final haul up the Kwaremont.
Wright slotted into the seven-man chasing group and gave his all for the final podium spot, but reached the line with nothing left.
"To give credit to him [Pogačar], my mistake last year was trying to hold on for too long. I saw Trentin leading him into the climb. Maybe I should have been on his wheel but, at the same time, I definitely didn't have the legs to follow there.
"If I'd tried, I'd have blown up. I said to myself 'I've just got to pace this Kwaremont, I've just got to ride my own rhythm then see what happens and hopefully, we'll be with some guys and we can bring him back, but it wasn't to be.
"I thought I'd do a bit more in the sprint at the end there but the legs were empty – really empty," he said. "On Paterberg I was pressing down on nothing."
Wright came away with his second successive top 10 at Flanders, at just 23 years of age.
In a mark of his ambition, he added: "I ended up with decent result, but I wanted more."
Wright, of course, wants a win, having come so close on so many occasions last year.
"I'll get the win at some point," he insisted. "If I can just keep putting myself there, that's half the battle. I did that today."
In between the more coherent post-race summations quotes above, came the continued smattering of more random exclamations.
"That was close, man!" Wright said at one point. "I was just happy not to blow on the Hotond – that would have been embarrassing!" he added later, out of nowhere.
This was a rider caught up in it all, and his exuberance was infectious.
Yeah, the Tour of Flanders is fucking brilliant.
