At the climb of the Taaienberg, from the finish, the favourites came into play. Niki Terpstra was the first to move, with Greg van Avermaet following after crossing the top, soon followed by a larger group. On the third and final lap of the course, Lutsenko attacked the 26-rider strong group again, joined by van Avermaet and Nelson Oliveira (Lampre-Merida). They were caught before the Kruisberg, soon followed by an attack by Terpstra and Kristoff. The two created a thirty-second lead and held it to the finish, even with a counter-attack from van Avermaet and Peter Sagan late on. Terpstra did not contribute to the pace making over the last kilometre, trying to use Kristoff's slipstream to win a sprint. This proved unsuccessful however, as Kristoff took the second monuments victory of his career, outsprinting Terpstra to the line. He became the first Norwegian to win the race.