Gent-Wevelgem, Belgium

The sprinters’ Classic lives up to its name as some of the world’s best fast men slug it out at the finish in Wevelgem. In a chaotic race beset by crashes (Ian Stannard’s Classics season was ended by a fractured vertebra in his back), it was John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) who scored the biggest win of his career. A late attack led by Stijn Devolder helped to halve the peloton of 80-odd riders by the finish but after it was swallowed up in the final 2km, it was the German who timed his sprint to perfection.