The Gent-Wevelgem race is known as “the sprinters’ classic” and normally Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) would be expected to play a major role but yesterday it wasn’t to be, partly because teammate Tom Boonen crashed out of the race at a crucial point.

"It was a very cold day, a very fast day," Cavendish said. "I felt good today but we were a little bit unlucky when we lost Tom in a key moment of the race. With Tom in the race we could have done something good after the Kemmelberg. Anyway, we had Stijn in the front; he had a great race once again. But Sagan is a machine. He deserved to win today."

You can watch the reactions of the Omega Pharma-Quick Step riders after Gent-Wevelgem in this video: