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Gallery: Sagan sprints to victory at Kuurne

World champion Peter Sagan wins a five-man sprint to take his first victory of 2017 in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.

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Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne — With aggressive racing from the gun, it was difficult to make the early break in the 200.7km Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne — A wet start to the day resulted in a few crashes. Yoann Offredo (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and Bram Tankink (LottoNL-Jumbo) tangled early on. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne — Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto-Soudal) led the early breakaway group. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne — Philippe Gilbert is wearing a new kit for 2017, that of Quick-Step Floors, but he’s sporting familiar colors as the Belgian national champion. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne — The peloton didn’t see much sunshine on Sunday, typical of early season races in northern Europe. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne — Sky’s Ian Stannard led the peloton up one of Belgium’s many cobblestone hills. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne — To avoid the brutal cobblestones of the Paddestraat road, riders took to the sidewalk. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne — As he did last year, Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) tried his chances with a solo breakaway. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne — This year, however, Stuyven was joined by four other escapees, including Quick-Step’s Matteo Trentin. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne — Having missed the breakaway, FDJ’s Arnaud Demare and BMC’s Greg Van Avermaet chased hard. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne — With the peloton bearing down on them, the five leaders opened up the sprint, and Sagan took one last look to ensure he had enough to win. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne — Sagan celebrated his first win of 2017. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne — Demare sprinted to sixth place out of the charging peloton. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne — Michael Schwarzmann congratulated his teammate Sagan at the finish. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne — A big glass of Kwaremont beer for the winner, naturally. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com

Read the race report >>

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