The Three Days of de Panne kicked off with a tough 201.6-kilometer stage and similar to all races held around the cobbled roads and hills of West Flanders the decisive moments of the race came on the final hellingen in the final kilometers.

The first vital attack came on the Leberg climb with 27 kilometers remaining and two Lotto Soudal teammates leading the race with around half a minute’s gap.  But Jasper Stuyven was quick to cover the move in the first big blow and initial softening of riders who thought they might still have legs and ambitions left.

“I am happy with how things went today, and I feel pretty good,” Stuyven explained of his race. “I was always in the front where I needed to be and covering all the moves. I missed a little bit of confidence in the finale but I think I am ready for Sunday [Tour of Flanders].”

There was a small regrouping before the next helling that arrived a mere five kilometers later, and it was here that the hammer fell for good - and Stijn Devolder was ready.

Four riders emerged over the top of the punishing Berendries climb 23 kilometers from the finish, including the impressive Devolder who just last week crashed heavily in Dwars Door Vlaanderen.

The quartet soon joined forces with the two Lotto Soudal men out front and these six would maintain a lead between 30-45 seconds until the finish.

"At the end I talked with Stijn to give him support and tell him the time difference,”director Dirk Demol explicated. “If they could arrive with 30 seconds then they can normally play for the overall victory in the TT.  So I told him to keep going hard.”

In the finale, the odds were stacked against Devolder to take the stage win with three Lotto Soudals and two from Team Katusha, including fastman Alexander Kristoff, in the leading group, but the Belgian had bigger thoughts of the overall victory for the three day - four stages event.

Kristoff easily snatched the sprint over Jens Debusschere (Lotto Soudal) in second; Devolder grabbed third and some precious bonus seconds that could play a big difference in the final stage’s individual time trial.

“Actually it was a little bit unexpected after what happened last week,” said Stijn Devolder about his strong race today. “After Wednesday and the really bad day on Friday [E3 Harelbeke] I was not sure how I would feel today. So for me, and for the team, we really needed this [result] to have some confidence back after the black week we had last week.”

The Three Days of de Panne continues with two more similar road stages before a 14-kilometer individual time trial, which could determine the overall victor on Thursday afternoon.

Devolder added: “The next two stages are dangerous for echelons and crashes so we will have to be with the team at the front and try to survive that, and then hopefully make a great TT on the final day.”

“Here the GC selection is usually made the first day and with Stijn there, and he can do a good TT, we have to be happy,” echoed Demol. “The whole team made a very good race today, and we will see what happens in the next stages.” 

“After what happened to Fabian [Cancellara] we have had to shape our cards a little bit differently,” Demol continued. “Losing our leader changes things for us, and also Stijn had crashed quite badly last week, so today was a test for him. We are taking this race more as preparation [for Sunday] and to see where we stand. I asked the riders to treat today like a one-day race.  We will take each day as it comes here.”

Today the team endured another big loss with Gert Steegmans crashing hard in the first 10 kilometers and knocking him out of contention. Initially it appeared he would be okay and be able to rebound for the Tour of Flanders Sunday, but with the final diagnosis came grim news: Trek Factory Racing had also lost his services for the second Monument of the season, another big blow ahead of some of the team's biggest goals of the season.

“It was a slippery slight turn and there was a traffic island,” explained Steegmans about his crash, his second in two successive races after his launch into a ditch Sunday. “I slid out and hit the traffic island just above my knee and now I have a hematoma. It is terrible pain!

“I hope to be able to train by the weekend and then maybe come back for Scheldeprijs and Paris-Roubaix. We’ll have to see.”