A new race on the calendar, the Classique Dunkerque saw the peloton take on some rolling roads but it was a day that was expected to end in a sprint finish. Team Picnic PostNL set out their stall and helped to contribute to the chase behind the early breakaway.
With things all back together, the last climb of the day saw a few attacks with Robbe Dhondt marking out a strong move. However, the peloton reeled things in and in the last 20 kilometres a bunch sprint seemed inevitable. As heavy rain fell, the team did well to stay out of danger and bring forward fast finisher Tobias Lund Andresen. In the end it was a messy sprint finish, with Lund Andresen battling to seventh place at the line.
Lund Andresen said: “We took control of the breakaway and put a guy in the chase. It was key to be in front on the steep kicker and we managed to do that perfectly which was good. In the final we lost each other a bit but I was in a good position around the last corners. I didn’t pay enough attention though and ended up getting jumped from the back. It was close today but we can do better in the next days here.”