Anders Foldager (Jayco-AlUla) bided his time, making the most of the uphill finish on the S-Bocht Overijse, and took a reduced sprint victory at De Brabantse Pijl-La Flèche Brabançonne.
The Danish rider was part of a small field that reached the base of the climb; the group caught late-race attacker Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) just before the final dash to the line.
Eduard Prades (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) was the first to surge, but as he faded, Foldager came off his wheel and stole the victory ahead of Quinten Hermans (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling) in second, Benoît Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in third, and Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United) in fourth place.
Prades held on for fifth place on the day.
Asked if he surprised himself with the victory today, Foldager said, "Yes and no. I knew this was the perfect race for me. It is by far the biggest win, so yeah, I surprised myself. It is a punchy, hard [race], not too long and then an uphill finish was quite good."
