Greig Leach

With Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step) out, the race was down to Wout Van Aerts (Jumbo-Visma) and Mathieu Van Der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix). Both riders had spent too much effort watching each other in last week's Gent-Wevelgem and marked each other out of contention for the sprint finish. Clearly the pair had no intention of repeating their mistake. While they had dueling words through the cycling press all week, today they were willing to collaborate to stay away and let their legs decide who was the better rider on the day. On their last trip up the Oude Kwaremont and the final climb, they stuck to each other like glue, and continued to work together. They have almost a minute and a half on the remnants of the peloton and they had no intention of letting anyone back into the race.