Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) wins 2018 Gent Wevelgem.

World Road race uci champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) sprints to his third Gent Wevelgem title with an impressive fashion off well calculated comprehensive sprint win ahead if of Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) and Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ).

The World Champion rode a composed race and waited patiently for the final sprint as Quick-Step Floors set about controlling the race after the final ascent of the Kemmelberg. With strength in numbers Viviani came into the sprint as the favourite but the Italian was left boxed in after choosing to follow Matteo Trentin’s (Mitchelton-Scott) wheel. Sagan, meanwhile use his experience to drift onto Jasper Stuyven’s (Trek-Segaredo) left shoulder.

How it Happened

The 174 starters rolled out of Deinze with the sun on their backs and relatively warm conditions for this time of the year. It took a while before a breakaway received space from the peloton but after half an hour of racing Brian van Goethem (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij) and José Gonçalves (Katusha-Alpecin) took off. They were joined by Frederik Frison (Lotto-Soudal), and later also Filippo Ganna (UAE Team Emirates), Jimmy Duquennoy (WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic) and Jan-Willem van Schip (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij).

At first, the peloton didn't relent, with the first hour of racing completed at 48 km/h. From there the lead for the six breakaway riders increased and topped nine minutes after 70 kilometres.

Top Ten General results

1, Peter Sagan (Slovakia) Bora-Hansgrohe,
2, Elia Viviani (Italy) Quick-Step Floors,
3, Arnaud Demare (France) FDJ,
4, Christophe Laporte (France) Cofidis, Solutions Credits,
5, Jens Debusschere (Belgium) Lotto Soudal,
6, Oliver Naesen (Belgium) AG2R La Mondiale,
7, Matteo Trentin (Italy) Mitchelton-Scott,
8, Zdenek Stybar (Czech) Quick-Step Floors,
9, Jasper Stuyven (Belgium) Trek-Segafredo,
10, Wout Van Aert (Belgium) Veranda's Willems Crelan