FWIW he’d finished twice in the top 10 at PR previously and multiple top 5 finishes in semi classics (Omloop, Dwars, Gent-Wev…) in addition to being a prominent domestique in the finals. Not exactly pack fodder by anyone’s standard, even WT.
Also worth mentioning he leveraged his “pack fodder” status to do less work in the break and get the jump since none of the favorites were watching him. They were focused on beating each other.