After a convincing sprint on the renewed finish area at the "Kop van de Vaart" in Roeselare, the sympathetic Gerben Thijssen finally won.
The verdict came after a photofinish, which eventually pointed out the Wanty rider as the winner.
The traditional breakaway of the day saw Zak Coleman (VolkerWessels), Emil Toudal (Team ColoQuick), Nick Zukowsky (Q36.5), Carlos Canal (Euskatel-Euskadi), Ryan Christensen (Bolton Equities Black Spoke) sign on along with our lowlanders Thibeau Verhofstadt (Tarteletto-Isorex), Rick Pluimers (Tudor) and Huub Artz ( Metec-Solarwatt).
On the twisting and constantly turning course, spectators never got the feeling that the breakaway riders would be out of harm's way, their bonus amounted to a maximum of 3 minutes.
No classic last 25 kilometers because under the impulse of the sprinters' teams with open canvas for Soudal- Quick-Step, everything was drawn to a ribbon, with no real separation except for Jesse Kramer ( Lotto - Jumbo Dev. ) and his compatriot Jaap Roelen ( Metec- Solarwatt). A depleted peloton stormed into the Rodenbach city where Gerben Thijssen eventually won.
