Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) cemented his status at the top of the sprint pecking order in the Scheldeprijs with a hard-fought victory in a messy bunch sprint ahead of Sam Welsford (Team DSM).
British champion Mark Cavendish freelanced his way to the front and opened up the jets to come off the wheel of Trek-Segafredo's Edward Theuns, taking the lead in sight of the line. Philipsen, however, found another gear and stormed past to claim his second title in Schoten, with Welsford following in his slipstream for second just ahead of the Astana Qazaqstan rider.
The situation didn't look so promising for Philipsen with 200 metres to go as he was boxed in behind De Buyst and his own teammate but he snuck his way through what looked like an impossible gap to hit the front just as Cavendish came past Theuns on the right.
Diving between Theuns and the barriers on the left, Philipsen finally found open road and burst through to take the victory.
"It wasn't that easy. The legs - I felt it at the end. It was not a typical hard race in the Scheldeprijs like we saw in the last years with the wind, but it also made it an exciting sprint at the end," Philipsen said.
"The team did an amazing job. We didn't really have a meeting for how we were going to do it but all these guys are really experienced in lead-outs and they know how to bring me in the best spot. I'm really happy to win it now twice - hopefully I can add some more in the future."
Welsford said he was "happy with second but not fully satisfied" after coming third in 2022 and second this year.
"Maybe next year I'll get the win," he joked. "Hats off to Philipsen, Alpecin did such a good final - unfortunately I was a little stuck in the barriers there. In these sprints it's all about split-second decisions, and it can go either way with stepping out right or holding left.
"It was a super easy day for the bunch which provides a really hard final. The finish was chaos, the last 20-30k was fighting full for positions. You could see in the final a lot of guys getting screwed over and almost crashing. I was super lucky to get through and get onto Jasper's wheel. It's all about being patient and picking your moments."
Cavendish was another rider who's path to the finale was fraught as he clashed with Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla), but he held his ground and held off the Dutchman, who finished fourth.
Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny) could not get through the traffic despite his teammate Jasper De Buyst putting in a fine effort at the front. Boxed in along the barriers, the unlucky Aussie gave up and came in a distant eighth.
Sandwiched in between were Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Theuns, and Max Walscheid (Cofidis) - all of whom were on the long list of pre-race favourites. European champion Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-Quickstep) appeared to touch wheels and drop his chain in the final 300 metres and finished well down the rankings.
How it unfolded
With only a light breeze as opposed to the gusting crosswinds of previous editions, the 205.3-kilometre-long 2023 Scheldeprijs from Terneuzen to Schoten was tightly controlled by the teams of the top sprinters.
After passing through the 6.6 kilometre-long Western Scheldt Tunnel a seven-rider breakaway filled with riders from the higher bib numbers emerged but never gained more than two minutes.
The brave group of no-hopers included Cériel Desal (Bingoal-WB), Josh Kench (Bolton Equities Black Spoke), Giulio Masotto (Corratec), Ruben Apers (Flanders-Baloise), Filippo Ridolfo (Novo Nordisk), and Beat Cycling Club duo Bram Dissel and Vincent Hoppezak.
As the leaders entered the final circuits around Schoten with less than 60km to go, the gap had fallen under the minute mark. The crowd fanned the sense of urgency in the breakaway but most certainly not the peloton which was 10 riders wide, led by Alpecin-Deceuninck.
The pace was so controlled that pre-race favourite Philipsen stopped to relieve himself - details unknown - with 38km to go while the escape had just 45 seconds. Teammate Mathieu van der Poel dropped back to help bring him into the peloton and the pair were back with 32km to race and, still with the pace under tight control, the escapees were within 30 seconds' reach.
When the breakaway hit the Broekstraat cobbles for the second to last time, it split in two with only Desal, Dissel, Apers and Ridolfo left as Tim Declercq led the peloton 30 seconds behind.
Lead-out trains began assembling within 20km to go, complicated by a series of narrow roads and turns. Lotto-Dstny came forward en masse to drop Ewan off on the wheels, while Uno-X did the same for Kristoff, Jayco-AlUla with Groenewegen and Soudal-QuickStep for Jakobsen. Alpecin-Deceuninck and Philipsen seemed to take a back seat in the battle.
The bell rang for the breakaway and then the peloton 18 seconds later. In the peloton, Intermarché and Cofidis appeared for Thijssen and Walscheid, respectively, while Cavendish and Bol tucked in on the wheels. Despite appearances from Van der Poel and Declercq at the head of the peloton, the four escapees only came into view on a long, straight stretch of road with 11km to go.
If the hopes of the quartet in front rose when they still had 15 seconds in hand upon the exit of the final trip over the Broekstraat cobbles, those hopes were finally dashed along the Albert canal as the lead-out men closed in. Desal made one last-gasp attack with 4km to go but he was no match for the Alpecin-Deceuninck train, led by Van der Poel and Ramon Sinkeldam.
Van der Poel declared his job done after diving through a turn ahead of the 2km banner and shutting down the Trek-Segafredo train. Cavendish shot forward in sight of the line but he didn't have enough power to hold off the impressive speed of Philipsen.
Results
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