Salvatore Puccio confirmed the great form he had shown in Italy a few weeks ago when he animated today's Nokere Koerse. Having been part of a 17-rider break, the Italian was caught within sight if the line and instead his Sky teammate Ben Swift sprinted to 8th.

Salvatore Puccio saw his breakaway efforts closed down in the final metres while Ben Swift claimed eighth spot at Nokere Koerse.
 

The team were quick to jump on a promising breakaway opportunity early in the 199-kilometre race which allowed Swift to bide his time in the peloton.

Warm conditions greeted the riders and the race itself hotted up as the breakaway were caught by the chasing peloton almost within sight of the line.

Kenny De Haes (Lotto Belisol) edged out a narrow photo finish victory over Tom Van Asbroeck (Topsport Vlaanderen) while Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) rounded out a podium of sprinters.

Swift found himself edged from the optimum position amid a frantic run-in but was still able to log a top-10 finish in Nokere.

After the race Sports Director Kurt-Asle Arvesen said:

“Salvatore went away in a big group and he got caught with 200 metres to go on the cobbles. There were about eight guys remaining in the end and the whole group just didn’t quite stay away.

“Swifty picked up a top 10 in the sprint. There was a bit of carnage in the final kilometre with a narrow road downhill. He didn’t quite have the perfect position and naturally there was a big fight.

“Sebastian Henao did his first ever race in Belgium today which is always quite an experience. He was happy and he got stuck in. All the guys rode well together. Obviously we wanted to win today but we got a rider in the break and executed the plan we wanted to.”