Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) powered to his first victory of 2026 at Nokere Koerse, breaking the heart of solo attacker Alec Segaert (Bahrain Victorious), who was caught in sight of the line.
Philipsen, who was held up by crashes and had to change his shoe during the chaotic race, was expertly positioned on the wheel of Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). He opened the sprint, and leapt clear, passing a fading Segaert along the way, to take the victory.
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For much of the final 10 kilometres, the peloton seemingly underestimated Segaert’s time-trial strength, leaving the chase to a single Lotto-Intermarché rider until the closing metres.
How it unfolded
Nokere Koerse hardly ever ends with a successful breakaway – the last time was in 2021 when Ludovic Robeet won – but that never stops riders from trying. After an active first 20km, four riders were allowed to go clear for what would eventually be a futile effort to steal the victory.
Lionel Taminiaux (Lotto-Intermarché), Sean Christian (Modern Adventure), Jelle Harteel and Jonah Killy (Tarteletto-Isorex) enjoyed the mild temperatures and sunshine as they gained nearly four minutes on the bunch in the first half of the lumpy 186.4km race from Deinze to Nokere, but that began to fall rapidly as the race entered the large closing circuit.
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