Saturday's fifth edition of the Paris-Roubaix Femmes marked two years since Alison Jackson's underdog victory from the early breakaway, but few had marked her, or her EF Education-Oatly teammates, among the top favourites for glory this time around.
Come the race's conclusion in Roubaix's Vélodrome André-Pétrieux, a repeat of that famous triumph wasn't on the cards, but the women in pink did come away with a smaller cobblestone trophy to add to the collection – that of second place, courtesy of Letizia Borghesi.
Earlier in the afternoon, the US squad had placed both her and Jackson among the lead group of around 20 riders, which came together with 35km to go, following the Pont-Thibault à Ennevelin sector.
Much more racing lay ahead, including major tests at the Camphin-en-Pévèle and Carrefour de l'Arbre, but the pair persisted where others dropped, eventually making up two-fifths of the chase group behind solo winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) in the race's final kilometres.
Come the velodrome, Borghesi flew off the front, getting the jump on EF's rivals in the group and dashing away to second place as Jackson came home fifth. It was a big result for the team and for Borghesi, who in addition to her recent sixth place at the Tour of Flanders, has now announced herself as a cobbled Classics contender.
"Second place for me feels like a victory because I'm not used to being on this podium," Borghesi said in the post-race press conference.
"I always believed I could arrive on this level, but it's the first time – not the first time as I won a stage in the Giro in 2019 – in a big Classic, a Monument like this. It's a big achievement, and I can just be proud of it.
"Of course, if Pauline wasn't in the breakaway, then I could have won, but the result is like that. I'm proud I could achieve the most."
Borghesi and Jackson were in a select group chasing Ferrand-Prévot following the Frenchwoman's winning attack at 25km from the line. The pair looked to SD Worx-Protime duo Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes to lead the chase, the Canadian admitted, but despite the win having gone up the road, they came through for a top result regardless.
"In the final, we were a small group chasing Pauline. I had my teammate Alison with me. We communicated with each other, and we decided for her to sprint and me to attack," Borghesi described their plan.
"I had really good legs, so in the last 4km, I tried an attack with some other riders, but we weren't working with each other. Then, I just saw the moment, I went full gas, and I just kept pushing until the finish line."
Jackson called EF's performance "a great ride", noting that the team's plan was always to get more than one rider into the final, rather than putting their efforts behind one solo leader.
One of their other candidates, Australian veteran Sarah Roy, fell victim to a crash, but the team still had strength in numbers and cards to play as Roubaix neared.
"It was a team performance, honestly," Jackson told Cyclingnews while sat on the velodrome infield after the finish. "You need to use the team to get into that first sector first, and then you got to avoid some bad luck, you know?
"That's why you can't just come in with one clear leader, so we really wanted to have numbers in the final. Unfortunately, Sarah crashed late into the race, so it was just Letizia and I just covering moves, really not letting SD Worx be in anything without us and putting the pressure on them to bring Pauline back, which they tried, but it was a little bit too late to go.
"Then Letty and I in the final were just looking for an opportunity to go or wait for the sprint. Letty found a moment to counter-attack, and I just controlled the peloton and then came in for the sprint.
"We always say that this race is who wants it the most. Letizia really wanted it and I really wanted it. Even coming into the final, I had a rear flat, and you just sprint full gas anyway. It's all in for this race. It's about being tough and who wants it the most."
For all the talk of placing multiple riders at the front of the race as the final approaches, it's useless if your riders don't have the legs to get there in the first place.
After all, only a handful of top teams could say they had more than one rider among the leaders once the toughest cobbles were over and done with – EF being one of them, along with Visma-Lease A Bike, SD Worx, and Canyon-Sram Zondacrypto.
However, thankfully for EF, Borghesi has found a rich vein of form at the right time this spring. She said later that she's been in a "really good condition" dating back to Opening Weekend and could then take confidence from strong performances working for teammate Noemi Rüegg at Milan-San Remo and Strade Bianche.
"These are my favourite races, so this was my goal for the first part of my season," she said. "This year, I reached a level which I didn't have in the past, so I'm really proud of how I'm developing as a rider. I improved year after year without forcing steps.
"I'm leaving my body to improve step by step, and so I think I have a solid base for the future. I'm really happy with this result, and it gives me extra confidence for the future."
Following on from Rüegg's podium at San Remo, this result in Roubaix marks their biggest of the season to date, and something to build on for a team which hasn't won since the early season races in January and February.
The partying and celebrations would soon follow, Jackson said, but before all that, she signed off by summing up the magic of Paris-Roubaix
"We've had not so many editions of it so it's the most exciting, dynamic race," she said, moments before La Marseillaise rang out to salute the race's first French winner. "It's unpredictable. That's why the people love it and that's why we love it too.
"Every year you come back, and you just think 'Oh, if I had a clean run, I could win it'. And I think every girl feels that there's more chance they could win this because it's unpredictable."
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