Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Floors) won the 2017 Dwars door Vlaanderen after a well-timed counter-attack. Philippe Gilbert crossed the line in second to give the Belgian squad the top two steps on the podium.
It was Gilbert who took a group away on the Berendries climb with nearly 80km left to race. This group was whittled down as the race progressed, and it was again Gilbert who put in the next decisive move.
The Belgian National Champion attacked up the cobbled climb of the Paterberg and when the dust had setttled only Lampaert, Luke Durbridge (Orica-Scott) and Alexey Lutsensko (Astana) were able to bridge across to the lone leader.
Simultaneously, Quick-Step's Niki Terpstra and Zdenek Stybar attacked from the main peloton and reached the second group, where they sat in. This gave the team back-up options if the lead quartet were brought back.
With 17km to go the lead group's gap was out to 1:14 and the fight seemed to have gone from the chasing peloton.
Once again, Gilbert attacked first with 9.4km left to the finish line and Durbridge was forced to chase. Lutsenko was in trouble for a time but dragged himself and Lampaert back and reformed the group of four.
After a lull in proceedings, the eventual winner counter-attacked 7.4km out and his former breakaway companions had no answer for the move. Lampaert increased his lead to 30 seconds with 2km to go and it was clear the win would be his.
Other riders, including Jelle Wallays (Lotto-Soudal) and Sep Vanmarcke (Cannondale-Drapac), had tried to go clear at times in the race, which stands them out as ones to watch as the cobbled Classics continue.