Geraint Thomas storms to win in E3 Harelbeke

The Team Sky rider was part of a breakaway but attacked on his own with four kilometres to go, leaving fellow escapers Peter Sagan and Zdenek Stybar in his wake as he blasted over the cobbles to claim a memorable victory.

Stybar clung on to come second, but Sagan faded and was overhauled by the peloton, allowing Matteo Trentin to claim third place.

The race was marred by several big crashes, with one taking Fabian Cancellara out of the race and another seeing Greg van Avermaet getting flipped over his handlebars.

Olympic gold medal winner Thomas was delighted to have fought it out.

"I can’t quite believe it. That last attack took me back to my track days and I imagined I was trying to hold Ed Clancy’s wheel in the team pursuit," he said.

"I felt pretty good during the second half of the race and committed at the end.

"It was hard out there. The three of us worked well together and I wasn’t sure if they were bluffing a bit near the end – panting and pulling faces – but fortunately they weren’t, and it was great for me.

"These six weeks from Paris-Nice and Paris-Roubaix were the big hit for me. Paris-Nice was really disappointing, I was close last week and to get the win now is really great."

1. Geraint Thomas (GB) Team Sky

2. Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx - Quick-Step

3. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx - Quick-Step

4. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Team Katusha

5. Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team LottoNL-Jumbo

6. Matti Breschel (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo

7. Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Soudal

8. Jack Bauer (NZl) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team

9. Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica GreenEdge

10. Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team