Former Belgian champion Tim Merlier defeated Mark Cavendish and West Fleming Timothy Dupont in the sprint.
It was early day in Hooglede, but that did not stop nine riders from taking the lead. The names: Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ U23), Stefano, yes son of, Museeuw (BEAT Cycling), Clément Carisey (Delko), Syver Waersted (Uno-X), Daniel Tullett (Canyon dhb), Jeroen Eyskens (EvoPro Racing), Rick Ottema (Metec-Solarwatt), Stan Van Tricht (SEG Racing Academy) and Jon Knolle (SKS Sauerland NRW).
The maximum lead went up to 4 minutes, then the sprinters' teams thought it was enough and among others the Hooglede and Gitsberg were used to narrow the gap. On that same Gitsberg, during the second last lap, everything was to be redone, although English talent Lewis Askey offered the most resistance. The final 20 kilometres were traditionally nervous. At 7 kilometres from the finish, yes on the Gitsberg, forever linked since 2011 to "Philippe Gilbert's jump to the Belgian championship", Amaury Capiot ( Arkea-Samsic) tried an all-or-nothing attempt. He got a few seconds encore but this was insufficient to avoid being caught.
In the sprint on the Beversesteenweg, there was no limit to Tim Merlier, who won well ahead of a visibly disappointed Mark Cavendish.
Photo: Cor Vos
Top 5:
1. Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix)
2. Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck - Quick-Step)
3. Timothy Dupont ( Bingoal- Wallonie Bruxelles)
4. Pierre Barbier (Delko)
5. Ricardo Minali (Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux)
