A strong sprinter field gathered once again this year at Gooikse Pijl for just under 196 km of racing, with Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe lining up with Jordi Meeus and Danny van Poppel, both former winners of the Belgian one-day race. With the last of the escapees being reeled back in with around 8km remaining, a sprint finish was guaranteed in Gooik. After a nervous final few kilometres, the bunch gallop was hotly contested, coming down to a photo finish between Jordi Meeus and Tim Merlier, with Jordi narrowly having to concede the victory, taking second place.
Jordi Meeus:
That was a really close finish. Neither of us knew who took the win when we crossed the line. I knew that with this type of finish, it's better to come from behind a bit. In the end, I came really close, but just not close enough. It was a nervous final few kilometres ahead of the finish as well. The right-hand corner at 5.5km to go was crucial, and we were well positioned at the front there. It was then again quite tense to get into a good spot ahead of the narrow road at 2.5km to go, but Danny positioned me perfectly. It's a shame I couldn't finish it off.
Results