Jens Debusschere (Lotto Soudal) was third in the Sluitingsprijs Putte-Kapellen. Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) won the bunch sprint ahead of Tom Van Asbroeck (LottoNL-Jumbo) who finished second.

Early in the race, a breakaway of six riders including Tosh Van der Sande took off. The attackers had a maximal advantage of four minutes on the peloton. A bit later, three other riders (Olivier Chevalier, Dimitri Claeys and Maarten Tjallingii) joined them.

Cofidis led the chase in the peloton. The break was caught in the last five kilometres. Bouhanni finished off the teamwork by winning narrowly in a  bunch sprint. The photo finish determined the winner. Van Asbroeck got second, Debusschere third.

"I found myself a little too early in the lead, and I could not hold Bouhanni off," Debusschere told Directvelo. "When he was in my wheel, I knew it would be complicated. I finished third, beaten by Bouhanni, so I must be satisfied. The guys rode well for me I hope to make progress next year.

"I started my sprint much too early to start my sprint. Bouhanni was on my wheel and if he can get into that position, he is hard to beat. Moreover, he was motivated for the victory because he wanted to win the Europe Tour. But I'm back on the podium.

"I'm going on holiday for a month and the bike will stay at home. I will enjoy not having to think about races."

Debusschere won the Nationale Sluitingsprijs in both 2013 and 2014.