As usual the last day of the Three Days of De Panne-Koksijde was divided in two parts. There was a morning stage of 111 kilometres to start with. Pim Ligthart joined a breakaway, but in the final kilometres all thirteen escapees were reeled in.

The stage ended with a thrilling sprint between André Greipel and Alexander Kristoff. The difference was invisible to the naked eye. The Norwegian became the official winner. In the afternoon an individual time trial of 14.2 kilometres was scheduled. Three Lotto Soudal riders had to defend a place in top ten.

Lars Bak and Sean De Bie were third and fourth respectively in the overall standings before the time trial. André Greipel stood on place seven. World champion Bradley Wiggins set the fastest time in De Panne. Greipel was the first Lotto Soudal rider in the stage result, as eleventh.

In GC the German is tenth. Sean De Bie lost one place. The 23-year-old Belgian finishes at 58 seconds of Kristoff, who successfully defended his leader’s jersey. Lars Bak lost three places, following at one second of his teammate De Bie.

“Before the time trial it was my goal to stay in top ten, but I was hoping for a place in top five. That I actually finish as fifth in GC is really satisfying. When you look at the other names in the top ten, this is a really strong performance. I took a fast start because the first part was really technical and suited me best. At the time check after 5.4 kilometres I was only twelve seconds slower than Wiggins. At the finish I followed at fifty seconds of him. In the second half of the race I lost the most time. It came down to power, I knew I would lose time there. A time trial over a maximal distance of fifteen kilometres suits me. To show off my skills even better the time trial had to be shorter,” Sean De Bie said.

“I notice I’ve made a big evolution since last year. I feel good and can play a role in my type of races. I proved that in Dwars door Vlaanderen and E3 Harelbeke. These Three Days of De Panne-Koksijde are actually three mini classics in a row. In the first stage I laid the foundations for a good GC, by bridging to Lars Bak and Jens Debusschere together with Bystrøm, Devolder and Kristoff. If you want to get a good overall result you have to be very concentrated and be attentive all the time for the corners, wind and all other obstacles on the course. It is tough mentally. That’s why I’m so glad I set such a good result.”