Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) claimed the opening stage of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque in a crash-marred finish that saw pre-race favourite Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) come down in the final 200 metres.
Kooij earned the first leader's jersey of the race, finishing the stage ahead of Max Walscheid (Cofidis) and Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ).
The day's breakaway had very little chance of staying away, with five riders giving it a go regardless.
Mathias le Berre (Arkéa-Samsic), Alex Colman (Team Flanders Baloise), Kenny Molly (Van Rysel-Roubaix Lille Metropole), Damien Grignard (Nice Metropole Côte d'Azur) and Mael Guegan (CIC U Nantes Atlantique) spent the better part of the 197km stage not too far off the front of the peloton.
Their maximum gap was only four minutes and fell to less than a minute in the finishing circuits. A few crashes due to traffic furniture disrupted the chase.
A surge on the final KOM left only Le Berre and Molly off the front as the peloton swept up the remaining riders.
After the breakaway was caught, a couple more crashes in the final kilometres further disrupted the lead-out trains and split the peloton into a smaller than expected bunch for the sprint.
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Despite the reduced size, another crash took down Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) and a rider from CIC-U Nantes Atlantique in the final 200 metres.
Laura Weislo is a Cyclingnews veteran of 20 years. Having joined in 2006, Laura extensively covered the Operacion Puerto doping scandal, the years-long conflict between the UCI and the Tour de France organisers ASO over the creation of the WorldTour, and the downfall of Lance Armstrong and his lifetime ban for doping. As Managing Editor, Laura coordinates coverage for North American events and global news.
