Belgian champion Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dsnty) produced a perfectly-timed late sprint to chase down Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and take victory at Binche-Chimay-Binche, only coming around his compatriot in the final 50 metres.
Philipsen found himself with no lead-out riders left in the last 100 metres after a chaotic run for home, prompting him to launch early away from Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) as the bunch hit the cobbled finishing rise.
It looked as if Philipsen was going to make it until De Lie came with a stunning top speed to easily pass him before the line, with the Alpecin rider eventually falling to fourth on the day off the podium behind Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) and Milan Fretin (Cofidis).
This is De Lie's seventh win of the season and makes him the first rider from Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium, to win Binche-Chimay-Binche since Frank Vandenbrouke in 1996, whom this race is also a memorial for.
"The first two or three hours of the race I didn't really have good legs but I stayed calm. The team really did a good job and I felt stronger and they kept the front," said De Lie, who admitted pre-race that he wasn't in his best shape after a long season.
"In the sprint, I saw that Jasper Philipsen went so I went onto his wheel and back to the best possible place and it's fantastic to win here in Wallonia in this jersey.
"I'm not really assured about my form, I didn't have the best legs but after three hours I got into it and they responded well. It's really nice to add this one to my palmarès."
How it unfolded
The 198.6km race set off from Binche in the morning with grey and windy conditions prepared to greet the field. The break of the day was formed in the opening 10 kilometres, with six men getting up the road, Michiel Coppens (Cofidis), Michael Schwarzmann (Israel-Premier Tech), Iker Mintegi (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Stijn Appel (Beat), Adrien Maire (TDT-Unibet) and Rindert Buiter (VolkerWessels).
Racing was quick in the peloton with lots of teams working to keep the deficit around 3:30 until they started to reel in the six break riders which didn't take long once they entered the final 50km.
Attacks came from the likes of Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) and Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) - on several occasions, which forced others behind to respond like Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) and Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates).
Eventually, with 30km to go, Covi managed to get a gap and go solo but the racing was on behind and he was kept around a 15-second margin until the final lap of the local course around Binche when he was joined by Andreas Stokbro (TDT-Unibet) with 13km to go.
The Dane quickly had a compatriot with him in front when Magnus Cort Nielsen (Uno-X Mobility) decided to bridge across before attacking solo, which ended Covi's and Stokbro's day in front.
He wasn't allowed much freedom as the sprinter's teams wanted to get into ideal position for the final 10km run to the line, bringing things all back together with Lidl-Trek, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Lotto Dstny best positioned.
Alpecin took full control in the final 5km as things got more chaotic and strung out on the tailwind roads approaching Binche, with Girmay's Intermarché-Wanty train positioned just behind.
Philipsen's team continued to dominate the lead-out until the final approach to the line and the cobblestone sectors arrived, however, they ran out of riders and he was left to navigate the last kilometre on his own.
With other pre-race favourite Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) way down and not contesting the finale, Philipsen opted to launch early away from Van Poppel who was in his wheel but couldn't maintain his effort.
De Lie came with great speed, as did Girmay and Fretin, all eventually passing the top sprinter at the line as he was resigned to fourth in a disappointing day out in Belgium. The Belgian champion will look for more success to round out 2024 at the Sparkassen Münsterland Giro on Thursday and Paris-Tours on Sunday.
Results
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