Maxime Vantomme (Roubaix Lille Metropole) unleashed a powerful sprint on the slightly uphill finish in Dour to claim victory ahead of Alexey Tsatevich (Katusha) and Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) at Le Samyn.

When late attacker Vladimir Isaichev (Katusha) was caught inside the final kilometre on the deceptive drag towards the line, the stage seemed set for Bouhanni to land his second win of the new season.

Bouhanni was well-positioned on the wheel of lead-out man Sebastien Chavanel when the bunch swung around the final bend, but Vantomme anticipated the Frenchman by launching his sprint on the opposite side of the road with 200 metres to go.

Vantomme instantly opened a small gap, and though the 2013 Samyn winner Tsatevich and Bouhanni both finished rapidly, they were unable to make up the ground. There was disappointment, too, for Gerald Ciolek (MTN-Qhubeka), who could only manage 8th place, while his teammate Kristian Sbaragli finished 5th.

“I like this race a lot. I’m done it a few times and the uphill finish is perfect for me. I’ve had good results here before now, but never the win,” Vantomme said as he waited to mount the podium.

Vantomme’s victory was his first in over six years, since he won a stage of the Tropicale Amissa Bongo in 2008. In the intervening period, Vantomme spent four seasons in the WorldTour at Katusha, but finds himself with greater responsibility within the Continental Roubaix Lille Metropole squad.

“I have carte blanche with my new team and I could do what I wanted today,” he said. “It was hard to stay near the front in the finale, but I was well-placed with 200 metres to go. I launched my sprint and I managed to win. I could feel my former Katusha teammate Tsatevich coming up behind me, but I said to myself that he wasn’t going to come past.”

Omega Pharma-QuickStep's forcing

The opening stages of Wallonia’s first race of the season were animated by a three-man break featuring Sijmens, Van de Maele and Hubert, who escaped in the first hour of racing and held a lead of three minutes over the bunch shortly after the midway point.

That margin began to tumble soon afterwards, however, as Omega Pharma-QuickStep began to ratchet up the pace in the main peloton. Indeed, after the three leaders were caught, the QuickStep pressing threatened to force the decisive split of the day with 70 kilometres to race.

Certainly, there were shades of Sunday’s Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne when no fewer than six QuickStep riders – Julian Alaphilippe, Andy Fenn, Iljo Keisse, Peter Vakoc, Martin Velits and Guillaume Van Keirsbulck – found themselves in a group of 11 riders that clipped off the front, though the move was pegged back within ten kilometres.

Another QuickStep rider, new arrival Thomas De Gendt, was part of the next major move, slipping away with Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r-La Mondiale) inside the final 50 kilometres. With Lotto-Belisol and Trek Factory Racing among the teams chasing, however, the pair were never allowed a lead greater than 40 seconds, and were pegged back on the finishing circuit with 20 kilometres remaining.

On that finishing circuit, a group of ten riders, including Greg Henderson (Lotto-Belisol), Sergey Lagutin (Rusvelo), Lloyd Mondory, Julian Kern (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Sébastien Delfosse (Wallonie-Bruxelles) forged their way clear, but they, too, were swept up inside the final ten kilometres.

Jasper Stuyven (Trek Factory Racing) was prominent near the front of the bunch in a finale where a number of moves took off without ever gaining any significant traction, although the Russian champion Isaichev threatened to upset the odds when he powered off the front with two kilometres remaining.

Isaichev’s lead lasted into the final kilometre, but he was caught just as the final, shallow slopes began to bit. Bouhanni seemed well-placed for the win, but Vantomme had other ideas.

“Up to now, I’ve always been missing a little detail,” Vantomme said. “But today, I didn’t wait for Bouhanni or anyone else. I just did my own sprint.”

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