Dylan van Baarle and Jumbo-Visma took the win, while Arnaud de Lier overcame a crash in his Omloop Het Nieuwsblad debut to take second place.

The 20-year-old crashed with 50km to go, forcing him to make a desperate solo pursuit after changing bikes before Molenberg. Although he had exhausted his energy there, the Lotto-Destney rider still had the strength to cross Mühl van Geraalsbergen and join the chase group of four that had formed behind van Baar.

Even as the peloton dwindled and was caught by that group of four just before the finish, De Lier had the speed and strength to sprint to second place.

"It was complicated against the Jumbo team, but I had great legs," De Lier told RTBF (open in new tab) after the race.

De Lier was probably still recovering from his post-crash efforts when Van Baar launched his winning attack with 38 km to go.

But after Van Baar dropped his breakaway companions one by one, De Lier proved to be the strongest of the lot Destony in Mühl van Geraalsbergen, Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), joined the chase group along with Laporte. De Lier paid tribute to the generous efforts of his former Lotto Destony teammate Wellens as they crossed the Bosberg and headed to Ninoveh.

"I want to thank all my teammates for a great job, and a special shout-out to Tim Wellens for sacrificing himself to finish second," de Lier said. I'm always disappointed when I finish second," de Lier said. But when I think about it calmly, I am proud of my performance. But, keeping a cool head, I'm proud of my performance.

De Lier finished with a bleeding right knee from a crash on a right-hand corner with just over 50 km to go. De Lier spoke lightly about the extent of his injury and clarified that it would not affect his participation in Sunday's Coure Brussel-Coulomb. Known as a fast finisher, De Lier had a great run in his debut professional season in 2022, with nine wins.

Meanwhile, in his Omloop debut, de Lier proved why he is compared to a young Tom Boonen.

"After that crash, I was able to keep my cool and my adrenaline pumping for the final. 'Arnaud, you are in the final. I knew I had the right profile for this kind of race and I proved it here. I'm very motivated for the Coone and for the races to come."