Cannondale's Peter Sagan won the E3 Harelbeke Classic race in Belgium.
There was a strong field including last year's winner Fabian Cancellera for the E3 Harelbeke Classic which starts and finishes in Harelbeke in the Flanders region of Belgium with a 213km course that features seventeen climbs, cobbles and country lanes.
Crashes are always a major feature of this race and the first started not long after the flag had dropped when Tim Declercq (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Vladimir Goesev (Katusha) hit the deck.
Over the Kettenburg and onto the cobbles of the Haaghoek with 180kms to go, Maxime Daniel (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Jerome Cousin (Europcar), Sénéchal (Cofidis), Jay Thomson (MTN-Qhubeka) and Laurens De Vreese (Wanty Groupe Gobert) got clear and opened up a lead of 1.20.
After seventy kilometres, that had gone out to seven minutes before the crashes continued with one that saw Orica Green Edge's Svein Tuft being transported to hospital.
More crashes saw Jens Debusschere (Lotto), John Murphy (UHC) and Maarten Wynants (Belkin) hitting the deck as the riders went over eighth climb - the Taaienberg.
By now, the peloton had split several times with riders all over the road which allowed the leaders to maintain a 3.20 gap over the first peloton.
Thor Hushovd abandoned with 65kms to go.before the Rotelenberg climb which saw Marco Bandiera (Androni Giocattoli) now in front and a stream of riders suffering mechanicals.
Geraint Thomas has worked himself into the lead group which Fabian Cancellera was now trying to reach.
On the penultimate climb of the Karnemelkbeek, Peter Sagan of Cannondale attacked, Thomas went with the Slovakian as did Nicky Terpstra and Stijn Vandenbergh.
The quartet were 35 seconds ahead of Cancellera's group and going into the last three kilometres, they were a minute clear.
Vandenburgh went for the line as did Thomas but Peter Sagan stormed past them to take the victory ahead of Terpstra, Thomas, Vandenbergh, Vanmarcke, Galopin, Bozic, Farrar, Cancellara and Greg van Avermaet