De Lie lashes out after crash at Le Samyn when driver braked | Video | Sticky Bottle

*Arnaud De Lie suffered a nasty crash, losing a lot of skin, when the car ahead of him appeared to jam on at a corner. And he was not happy...*

Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny) would have been the nailed on favourite to triumph in Le Samyn, given the way the finish panned out, with a sprint from a reduced group.

However, the young Belgian rider was instead licking his wounds after the race following a crash in which he lost a lot of skin, as well as his chance of winning the event.

With about 30km to go he was chasing back on after changing bikes when a car ahead of him appeared to brake, or even stop, at a corner. It caused him to take quick corrective action, to go around the two vehicles ahead of him.

But in the process he fell at speed, ripped his flesh, vented his anger and then abandoned the race. While it looked like he was berating his own team staff, both he and team insisted that was not the case. Instead, they said, he was angry at the driver of an official vehicle that braked on the corner where the incident happened.

“I don't understand why the (official car) brakes in the bend," he said afterwards. "Okay, I arrived quickly. But if the car keeps the same speed as me, I can approach the corner better and I won't fall.

"It's not me who makes the mistake, it's the car. I don't know why he's braking. But because of him I may now have one less victory. So thank you.

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“It's normal that I was angry, when you know you have the legs to win a match. If you look at the sprint, I had a good chance of winning. It's frustrating because I'm riding the perfect race.

"I sat where I was supposed to sit all the time. If you fall because of a car that does something it shouldn't do... At that moment I couldn't keep calm. That's normal, I'm a winner.”

The 204.3km race into Dour ultimately came down to a sprint from a reduced bunch, with Belgian rider Laurenz Rex (Intermarché-Wanty), though he very nearly lost it when he celebrated a little early.

He quickly ceased his victory celebration when he felt 20-year-old neo pro António Morgado (UAE Team Emirates) may have pipped him on the line with a great lunge. However, after a long wait, the commissaires confirmed Rex as winner, from Morgado, with Jenthe Biermans (Arkéa-B&B Hotels).

Former Irish champion Rory Townsend (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) rode very well, making the 30-rider front group and finishing 22nd. Dillon Corkery (St Michel - Mavic - Auber 93) was 50th, at 1:14; a very solid ride in his first year at this level.