The reigning world road champ put in a massive surge on the Paterberg with over 40 km still to go, just as rival Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) crashed, and there would be no catching Van der Poel after that.
Van Aert did put up an admirable chase effort, remounting, navigating through what remained of the peloton, and then attempting to bridge to Van der Poel, but he was unable to make the catch. He brought the gap down to under 20 seconds at one point before fading and ultimately getting caught by Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek). Van der Poel stayed clear to win in Harelbeke by over a minute and a half. Van Aert settled for third behind Stuyven.
