The pace was high straight from the start, and it took seven riders to jump away. They got a maximum lead of five minutes. In the run-up to the hill zone, starting with the Scherpenberg, the peloton's pace increased again. In the descent of the Kemmelberg, a group of twenty riders, including Nathan van Hooydonck and Mike Teunissen, got away. Despite a promising start, this attempt did not last.

On the second passage of the Kemmelberg, the strongest riders had remained in front and Van Aert, Laporte and Benoot showed they were among the best. Van Aert tried to solo away during the third and final ascent of the Kemmelberg, but the reduced peloton did not let him go. Subsequently, Laporte escaped and got three riders with him. In contrast to earlier breakaway attempts, these men worked together until the finish. Laporte had to start the sprint from the first position and came just short of the win.

The French addition to Team Jumbo-Visma was disappointed after failing to win. “It was close. I was surprised by Girmay’s start. He created a gap of a few metres and it wasn't easy to close it. Maybe I made a mistake by not starting my sprint earlier. I am disappointed because I felt strong enough to win. My second place of Friday in Harelbeke can’t be compared to this one because we won the race as a team.”

“I escaped to put the team in an excellent position”, Laporte continued. “We wanted to make the race hard, but we weren’t the only ones. We can’t win every race, but you don’t always get such a great opportunity to win a classic.”

“We rode a good race and can look back with satisfaction”, Van Aert said. “I had hoped for slightly better legs today, but we rode for the victory with the entire team. The Kemmelberg is a tough climb, but not long. That’s why the gaps stayed small. Behind us, there were a lot of teams interested in the sprint and they regrouped quickly, so it was impossible to stay away. In the final, Christophe got away in a small group, which led to a perfect situation. The only blemish is that we just missed out on the victory.”