Jorgenson takes first classic win in Waregem
At 12.15pm, the starting gun sounded on the Stationsplein in Roeselare. There, the riders started their race of about 189 km. With about 131 km to go, the early breakaway formed. The 11 riders who coloured the early race hours were: Pedersen (Soudal Quick-Step), Norsgaard (Movistar Team), Grondin (Arkéa - B&B Hotels), De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team), De Pooter (Intermarché-Wanty), Märkl (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), Grondahl Jansen (Team Jayco AlUla), Eenkhoorn (Lotto Dstny), Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), Gachignard (TotalEnergies) and Vercouillie (Team Flanders Baloise).
At 66 km from the line a crash in the peloton with Van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike), Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) and Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) as the main victims. All three had to abandon. Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) was also involved, but the Dane was able to resume the race. That crash tore the peloton apart. A group with Benoot & Jorgensen (Team Visma | Lease a Bike), Küng (Groupama-FDJ), the duo Valgren - Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) and Tarling (INEOS Grenadiers) formed in search of the breakaway.
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On the ascent of the Ladeuze, with about 40 km to go, the chasers joined the remaining leaders. Thus, a group of 12 formed at the head of the race. The peloton was about a minute and a half behind at that point. On the Huisepont road, Küng went to shake the tree, which thinned out the leading group firmly with 26km to go. This left a leading group of seven: De Bondt, Benoot & Jorgensen, Bettiol, Küng, Tarling and Abrahamsen.
Former Tour of Flanders winner Bettiol went to shake the tree on the first climb of Nokereberg. That attack thinned the breakaway to a five-strong group, with Benoot and Tarling having to offload the role. With 19km to go, the instigator of the attack on Nokereberg had to release the role. The Italian suffered cramps. Meanwhile, Benoot and Tarling were able to rejoin the front.
After several jabs by several riders, it was Jorgensen who made the decisive attack at 7 km from the finish. Behind the American, things fell silent. In the chase, Abrahamsen, who was a member of the early breakaway, went in search of place 2. He eventually had to sprint for second place, and successfully. He made it ahead of Küng. Jorgensen, winning his first career classic, thus became the first American winner of Dwars door Vlaanderen.
