Kenny Dehaes was the leader of the Lotto Soudal team in the Handzame Classic today. He won the race two years ago. Unfortunately Dehaes crashed early in the race and had to abandon. Gianni Meersman won. Tiesj Benoot was third.

In the first hour the riders covered 49.5 kilometres. Nobody could escape the peloton. It was only when the peloton slowed down that four riders got away. Kenny Dehaes crashed and had to leave the race. Lotto Soudal had to rely on plan B, that meant the riders had to attack. Vegard Breen, Tosh Van der Sande and Sean De Bie all tried, but couldn’t stay ahead. In the local laps in Handzame all escapees got caught and a bunch sprint couldn’t be avoided. Gianni Meersman was the fastest. Tiesj Benoot sprinted to the third place.

“I saw Kenny hit the ground," Benoot said. "I stopped to see how he was doing, it was soon obvious that he couldn’t continue the race. We changed our tactics. At the end Tosh, Sean and Vegard could attack. I had to help Boris Vallée take a good position for the sprint.

"In the last three kilometres Sean and I rode behind the guys of Etixx – Quick-Step, with Boris Vallée just behind us. With one kilometre to go I saw Boris lost my wheel. It was too late to search for him, so I took my own chance. If I hadn’t done the efforts at the end, I might have finished higher.

"I was on Demotie's wheel. At this point, it was too late to hope to win. It's a surprise for me to be on the podium. Afterwards, I told myself that I could have done even better, but it is still unexpected for me to be so well placed in the sprint. 

"I certainly have no complaints about my debut in the pro ranks. I think I can do better, but in the team we have guys like Kenny Dehaes and Kris Boeckmans who are capable of winning races like these. And in the bigger races, we have Greipel. In the coming weeks, I will still be riding as a teammate.

Kenny Dehaes, winner of the Handzame Classic in 2013, crashed on a hill. The race was over for him after ninety kilometres. It was immediately clear that it was serious. After his crashes in Tour Down Under and Three Days of West-Flanders this is another set-back for Dehaes. He went to the hospital of Herentals for further tests. He will undergo surgery this evening.

“Tests in the hospital of Herentals showed that Kenny has a fracture in the middle of the radius in his left arm. He undergoes surgery this evening. The first fourteen days he’ll have to rest. Then it’s waiting to see how the fracture heals before we can set a date for his comeback," Servaas Bingé, team doctor Lotto Soudal, said.