Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won the first head to head battle of 2024 with Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), attacking on the Paterberg with 43km to go and then holding off Van Aert in a pursuit match to the finish.
Van Aert crashed on the Paterberg as Van der Poel attacked but still tried to close the gap, only to blow-up in the final ten kilometres and be caught by Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) who finished second.
Van der Poel finished 1:31 ahead of Stuyven and Van Aert, indicating that he is already on form for the 2024 cobbled Classics, despite this being just his second day of racing.
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