Danny van Poppel wins stage 1 at Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen

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Danny van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) sprinted to his first victory as a professional in stage 1 at Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen. Danilo Napolitano (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and Scott Thwaites (Team NetApp-Endura) rounded out the top three in the field sprint finale behind the 20-year-old Dutch winner.

Prologue winner Gert Joeaar (Cofidis, Solutions Credits) remains in the leader's jersey with one stage remaining. The Estonian leads Johan Le Bon (FDJ.fr) by five seconds and Kristof Vandewalle (Trek Factory Racing) by eight seconds on general classification.

The stage was set for a bunch gallop to decide stage 1 after the final escapee was caught four kilometres from the finish. Trek Factory Racing was among the sprinters' teams working to set up their fast men for victory.

"I am very happy! There was a corner around 500m to go, and just after this the team came by me and went full gas," said van Poppel. "It was perfect for me, I was sitting on Danilo Napolitano's wheel and he started his sprint early, and I was able to come around him at the end. I have had a lot of podiums before this, but this is my first win.

"I did not feel super today at the start, but then started to feel better and better as the race went along. And for a sprinter at the end, it does not matter - when I see the finish line coming, and with the team helping me like they did at the end, that made it easy for me. I want to really thank the team today, because without them I would not have won."

The stage began with a four-man break comprised of Eduard Michael Grosu (Vini Fantini Nippo), Julien Duval (Roubaix Lille Metropole), Laurens De Vreese (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and Sander Helven (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise). The escapees attained a maximum advantage of five minutes, but the undulating parcours created a split in the break and ultimately all were swept up with about 50km to go.

A new break formed with Stig Broeckx (Lotto-Belisol) and Alphonse Vermote (Vastgoedservice-Golden Palace) and the pair gained 25 seconds before Broeckx decided to set off alone. Vermote was soon caught but Broeckx held off the peloton alone until just four kilometres remained to the finish.