Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) claimed his third career victory in Gent-Wevelgem with a stunning display of power and tenacity.
Pedersen took the race in hand early, attacking 72 kilometres from the finish to bridge across to the day's early breakaway, then pushing all of his chips in with a solo attack on the Kemmelberg with 56km to go.
The peloton, previously shattered in the crosswinds of De Moeren, could hardly make a dent in the Dane's 90-second advantage in the last hour of racing thanks to a tailwind and the work of the rest of Lidl-Trek, who sat behind the few chasers, effectively disrupting their pursuit.
Lidl-Trek led out Jonathan Milan in the bunch sprint for the final podium spots, but Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quickstep) outpaced the Italian who hit out a bit too early. Milan had to settle for third.
"It's crazy. I never expected to be able to do something like this," Pedersen said. "To win here again is super nice."
Pedersen during his solo attack on the Kemmelberg (Image credit: Getty Images)
"It was in favour of being alone with the full tailwind in the last 20k. On the plugstreets I had really good legs, so I was like 'OK, let's try to open the race'. And then, it was the point of no return. This could have ended in shit also, but today it went well, so luckily it was a good decision."
Pedersen, who finished second behind Tour of Flanders rival Mathieu van der Poel in the E3 Saxo Classic two days previously, equalled the record of Gent-Wevelgem victories of Tom Boonen and Eddy Merckx. He played down what his win one week before De Ronde means, however, with Van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar absent from today's race.
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"It's a different race than this is, and you know, those two guys are still on a different level," Pedersen said. "We saw it Friday with Mathieu. He just dropped me on the Kwaremont. And we also know Tadej is a pretty good bike rider, so he he's able to do the same. Of course this gives some confidence for Sunday, and we believe we can win, but it's not going to be easy at all."
Merlier, who crashed during the Classic Brugge-De Panne and had to get stitches in his knee, revealed that he was opposed to starting Gent-Wevelgem today but his sports director Iljo Keisse put him on the start line.
"After Wednesday, I said to Iljo, 'I don't want to start today because I never can be ready'. But he left me on the list and brought me over here. So in the end, I need to say thank you to Iljo."
Merlier had to fight against Milan in a full-out sprint for almost 300 metres, ultimately pulling ahead just before the line.
"I'm really fast, but I know where he never gives up, so in the end, it was a long sprint next to each other."
Milan admitted he hit out too early in the sprint, "I finished the third but I'm still happy for this podium."
How it unfolded
Clear skies and a stiff breeze greeted the peloton in Ypres for the start of the 87th edition of Gent-Wevelgem with 250.3 kilometres of cobbles, dirt 'plugstreets' and bergs.
Jules Hester (Flanders-Baloise) kicked off the hostilities but a counterattack from Sam Maisonobe (Cofidis), Jasha Sütterlin (Jayco-AlUla), Marco Haller (Tudor) and Emīls Liepiņš (Q36.5) went clear.
Another attack from Victor Vercouillie (Flanders-Baloise), Max Walker (EF Education-EasyPost), Samuel Leroux and Alexys Brunel (TotalEnergies), Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates XRG) emerged from the peloton and joined the first breakaway with 228km to go.
The leaders gained nearly four minutes before their advantage began to come down after 80 kilometres of racing.
Crosswinds hit the peloton after 100 kilometres of racing, with Lidl-Trek driving the pace to leave sprinters like Arnaud De Lie (Lotto), Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quickstep) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) behind.
De Lie abandoned the race, but Merlier sent his team to the front to close the gap. The action brought the escapees within one minute before the first two echelons merged with 103km to go.
Victor Campenaerts attacked throughout the cobbled sectors, animating the race (Image credit: Getty Images)
Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike) attacked with Johan Jacobs (Groupama-FDJ) soon after, but the Swiss rider couldn't hold the wheel of the former Hour Record holder on the Baneberg and dropped back to the peloton.
Campenaerts made it to the leaders before the Monteberg with 94km to go. On the first ascent of the Kemmelberg, Vercouillie and Leroux lost touch while behind, a probing attack from Pedersen pulled away a small group but it was closed down quickly.
Pedersen attacked again on the section of three plugstreets with 72km to go and was joined by Arjen Livyns (Lotto) to bridge across to the breakaway.
Meanwhile, Philipsen suffered a puncture at the worst possible moment and had to fight his way back to the peloton.
Pedersen made his way to the remnants of the early breakaway with 63km to go, making it nine again, while behind, Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) crashed out of the race.
Pedersen and Arjen Livyns attacking from a breakaway group (Image credit: Getty Images)
The breakaway had a minute on the chasing peloton with 60km to go. Brunel tried to make a move on the Monteberg, dropping Liepinš and Oliveira. Maisonobe was swinging at the back when the group hit the Kemmelberg 1.8km later.
Campenaerts lead at pace into the Kemmelberg, dropping Brunel along with Walker and Maisonobe, but Pedersen came over the top and blasted away solo, destroying the rest of the breakaway.
When the dust settled, it was just Campenaerts, Hallery and Livyns left in the chase group.
The trio couldn't hold off the charging peloton, and a surge came from Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates XRG) and Philipsen. It was marked by Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek), but the acceleration was enough to reel the three chasers in.
Pedersen kept a lead of 1:25 with 15km to go despite Alpecin-Deceuninck, Uno-X Mobility and Soudal-Quickstep collaborating to try to close him down.
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.
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