Petr Vakoc of Etixx Quick Step has won the De Brabantse Pijl race in Belgium.
A 203km race with 26 climbs which starts in Leuven and heads past Brussels with eleven climbs before three laps of the finishing town of Schavel with five more climbs each laps was in store for the riders.
After 25kms, Oliver Zaugg (IAM Cycling), Emanuel Buchmann (Bora Argon 18), Sergey Nikolaev (Gazprom-Rusvelo) and Alberto Cecchin (Team Roth).were in the lead with a 2.20 advantage over a peloton which included the British One Pro cycling team.
Twelve kilometres later and they had extended that lead to 5.03, taking it to 5.40 before the gap fell to 3.10 with less than a hundred kilometres left.
The four out front which had dropped to three had been chased by Pieter Serry (Etixx - Quick-Step), Sean De Bie (Lotto Soudal), Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge), Josef Cerny (CCC Sprandi Polkowice), Martin Mortensen (ONE Pro Cycling), Christian Mager (Stölting Service Group), Marco Minnaard (Wanty - Groupe Gobert) and were caught with 71kms left.
With less than thirty kilometres to go and Paris-Roubaix winner Matt Hayman having abandoned, Tim Wellens of Lotto Soudal and Julien Alaphilippe attacked and got clear from the groups which were all the way down the road.
They had a lead of eighteen seconds with 24kms left but were caught by what was left of the peloton with five kilometres to go
Tony Gallopin tried to get free but was caught by Tanner, Gasparotto, Alaphilippe and Petr Vakoc who attacked inside the final kilometre and stayed away to win the race ahead of Gasparotto of Wanty Group and Lotto Soudal's Tony Gallopin.