Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) stormed to victory to retain his title at Nokere Koerse, outsprinting Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) and Milan Menten (Lotto-Dstny) at the end of a crash-hit finale at the 193km race.
The Belgian champion hit the front of the much-reduced peloton around the final bend on the cobbled rise to the line in Nokere and couldn’t be beaten as he and what remained of the group sprinted to the line.
The 193.6km route in 2023 started in Deinze on the Markt and finished on top of the Nokereberg. The peloton faced four climbs in the opening 82km, with the first just 26km into the race at the famous Wolvenberg, with a maximum gradient of 17%, which is followed immediately by the first section of cobbles.
Of the 171 riders who started the day, only around 20 were left at the front at the end of four-and-a-half laps of the closing circuit based around the Nokereberg climb.
