'Immortalise this moment' – Mozzato's Tour of Flanders second gives Arkea B&B its first Monument podium

Luca Mozzato (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) celebrates coming second at the Tour of Flanders 2024
Luca Mozzato (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) celebrates coming second at the Tour of Flanders 2024 (Image credit: Getty Images)

This year's Tour of Flanders may have had the most predictable of winners, but by his own admission, the rider who took the runner-up's spot, Luca Mozzato (Arkea-B&B Hotels)  was in no way anticipating his own dramatically successful race.

“It’s a result that exceeds my expectations," said Mozzato in a team statement. "If someone had said to me this morning, ‘you’re going to be in the top 20’, I’d have been happy, and ‘in the top 10’ I’d have signed up straight away. But on the podium…" 

The 26 year old headed toward Oudenaarde with a group of eight that swept up the break of Dylan Teuns (Israel-Premier Tech) and Alberto Bettiol (EF Education at the last moment. Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla), who was later relegated to 11th, launched the sprint but Mozzato jumped from behind the Australian to cross the line just ahead to claim second.

Simone Giuliani
Australia Editor

Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg. Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.