Nacer Bouhanni of Cofidis has won the 68th Halle-Ingooigem race in Belgium.
This final 1.1 race before the national championships attracted good numbers of riders from the Benelux to compete over 198 kilometres from Halle to Ingooigem.
The first attack came as soon as the flag dropped and Xandro Meurisse (An Post - Chainreaction) et Sam Lennertz (Vastgoedservice - Golden Palace) got clear and were soon joined by David Boucher (FDJ), Paulius Siskevicius (An Post - Chainreaction) and Dieter Vanthourenhout (Sunweb - Napoleon Games.
With 163kms to go, they were 7.03 ahead and twenty kilometres later, they had extended that lead to 9.15.
The peloton in a race won in 2014 by Arnaud Demare, slowly started to reel them in and going into the final one hundred kilometres, the front group's advantage had dropped to 6.26 to a peloton led by Iljo Keisse (Etixx-Quick.Step), who had won the last stage of the 2015 Giro D'Italia.
Onto the one kilometres long Le Tiegemberg climb and with 56 kilometres remaining, the escapers were still 5.25 clear.
The pressure was kept on the escapers and with two laps and 37kms to go, the break away was down to 1.30 to a peloton which had split, leaving forty or so riders in a front group.
With twenty three kilometres left, the escapers were finally caught and Stijn Devolder, using the race as a warm up for the Tour De France, then tried to chase down a group of five riders in Wallays, Vanmarcke, Soupe, Dehaes and Maes, who were starting to increase their advantage with ten kilometres to go.
As the peloton got within ten seconds, the five out front started to attack each other with first Maes and then Wallays going for it.
With the escapers split, the peloton caught up and although there was a crash in the final kilometres, Nacer Bouhanni race away from any danger to win ahead of Kris Boeckmans (Lotto-Soudal) et Edward Theuns (Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise)