As the race rounded the final key corner with 300 metres remaining, defending champion Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek) was among those forced to launch early, after Unibet Rose Rockets had helped bring back the remnants of the breakaway in the final 2km.
Once Groenewegen came around Theuns and hit the front having been sat in the perfect position, he never looked like he would be passed, beating 2019 race winner Pascal Ackermann (Jayco AlUla) who got up for second in the sprint and narrowly pipped Pavel Bittner (Picnic PostNL) in a photo.
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"It was a fast final. I think everybody was a little bit tired after a whole day of it being really stressful. But we managed to stay in a good position, communication between my teammates was really good, and we had the right timing on the right side," said Groenewegen, describing the sprint and why he went when he did.
"We knew the corners were really important, and I was in a really good spot. Then I was just waiting, and I wanted to go with 300 to go, but already two years ago with [Luca] Mozzato, I went too early, and now it was the right timing with 200, I think.
"It was a nice feeling. It's always good when you have the lead and feel like you're coming from behind. I think I was the fastest today, and it was a fair sprint."
Racing kicked off with a three-man breakaway getting up the road, but it wasn't until the hill zone and laps of the Baneberg, Monteberg and Kemmelberg – which will feature in the renamed Gent-Wevelgem in a couple of weeks – were finished that the threatening move would get away.
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It was made up of Gil Gelders (Soudal-QuickStep), Cedric Beullens (Lotto Intermarché), Henrik Pedersen (Uno-X Mobility), Rayan Boulahoite (TotalEnergies), Michiel Coppens (BEAT CC p/b Saxo) and Jelle Vermoote (Tarteletto-Isorex) and formed with 68km to go.
The day's most threatening break (Image credit: Getty Images)
Low winds then meant the typically explosive De Moeren section of the race was more about surviving the nerves than it was trying to survive echelons – which did form briefly, but the wind was never strong enough – so the sprint teams soon started to come to the front to try and bring back the six-man move, who were one minute ahead.
Laps around the finish saw the peloton raw closer, but probably not at the rate they were expecting, with the likes of UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Alpecin-Premier Tech working to pace at different points.
Despite Vermoote getting dropped 15km from the finish, the remaining five breakaways had mostly worked well as a unit to hold a 12-second lead heading into the final five kilometres, with Lidl-Trek, Picnic PostNL and Alpecin still trying desperately to bring them back.
The cooperation soon deteriorated in front as the peloton had them in sight 2.7km from the line, prompting Pedersen to try to surge away on his own. Beullens chased him down and countered, but the peloton soon swallowed him up too with 1,600 metres remaining.
From here, the fight for the final few corners and positioning for the sprint began, with Lidl-Trek well placed but quickly running out of firepower, and Unibet looking good with one rider keeping the pace high for Groenewegen into the last 500 metres.
Theuns tried to do it all on his own as he did a year ago, but a 300-metre sprint was way too far to stay ahead, even with the tailwind, essentially making him act as the perfect lead-out for Groenewegen on his wheel, who opened up and fairly easily surged to the line, able to celebrate as he crossed it.
The podium in Koksijde (Image credit: Getty Images)
James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.
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