Niki Terpstra of Netherlands took a solo victory in the 67th edition of Dwars Door Vlaanderen, the 'cobbled classic' marking the start of Flemish Cycling Week.
Terpstra dropped Jelle Wallays, the last of his eight breakaway companions, with more than 30 kilometres still remaining and powered away to win by 47 seconds.
His Omega Pharma-Quickstep team-mate Sylvain Chavanel outfoxed Project 1t4i's Koen de Kort in a two-man sprint for second place to round off an excellent day for the Belgian team on home soil.
A 15-man breakaway led by almost a minute at around the halfway mark before Omega Pharma-Quick Step and Rabobank went to the front of the main pack and quickly hauled them in.
A group of eight riders counter-attacked, including Terpstra and Chavanel.
Terpstra and Wallays went clear of their fellow escapees on the Oude-Kwaremont before Terpstra made the decisive move on the next hellingen, the Paterberg.
Cavendish crash
Team Sky's Mark Cavendish suffered a crash 15km from the finish after being brought down by a rogue water bottle thrown by another rider.
Thankfully he was soon back on his bike and crossed the line in the main bunch, three minutes and six seconds behind Terpstra.
Team Sky Sports Director Steven de Jongh reported: "Unfortunately Cav had a crash but that can happen in any race. His shoulder is hurting but that's from the impact itself and he looks to be okay.
"We'll make absolutely sure that's still the case tomorrow morning."