The race on unpaved roads with a finish at the Citadel of Diest opened up early on. The speed was high and the attacks kept coming. The entire team led by Jan Boven took an offensive position throughout the race. With sixty kilometres to go, a leading group was formed that included Pascal Eenkhoorn. Jonas Rickaert and Nils Eekhoff escaped from this group. Team Jumbo-Visma took control in the final phase, but the front runners could no longer be caught.

Eenkhoorn himself eventually finished in the top twenty: “We agreed to race freely and to give everyone a chance. The gravel lanes made it a nervous race, but we were consistently at the right place. I missed the battle when Rickaert and Eekhoff got away. I was disappointed about that. Fortunately, Timo and Bert-Jan were able to achieve a good result in the final kilometre.”