One rider struck a police officer. Some of them went off the street for a while. And, as usual, there was furniture strewn about on the road and, of course, De Panne's famous tram tracks. As one rider told Cycling News at the finish, "It was ridiculous."

The chaos of the final lap of the finish circuit, the run-in to De Panne, was one of the major talking points among the riders after the race.

The race, billed as the latest "World Championships for Sprinters," featured nearly all of the top fast men, but was somewhat overshadowed by the dash to the finish.

"This is World Tour level..." Tosh van der Sande of Jumbo Visma told Cycling News.

"When I look at the last few kilometers, it's ridiculous to me. There is road construction, there are traffic islands, there is sand next to the road. At one point I was in the middle of it. Next to the train path was a track of sand."

The chaos began on the final run through De Mohren. The wind through the infamous marsh was not strong, but the pace picked up regardless, and Tour Dens plunged head first into the ditch. On the road back toward De Panne, Movistar's Max Kanter collided with a marshal just before the left roundabout toward Vereen.

Marshall was standing on a traffic island in the middle of the road and had instructed riders to use the left side, but there was not enough width for the entire group and some riders went through on the right side.

After one Arkea Samsic rider did so, Canter began to do the same, and the marshal moved in the same direction, resulting in a head-on collision. Kanter made sure the downed marshal was okay, but he was a Movistar sprinter and had to return to the race immediately.

The run itself was well known to many of the group, with traffic furniture and the infamous tram tracks that almost sucked the narrow wheels of the road race. Riders were jumping all over the place, including traffic islands, grass medians, and even strictly prohibited roadside bike paths.

Then one of the favorites to win, Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates), fell off the bike.

"The chaos that led to the sprint is beyond description. If you look at the video of the peloton, you will see ......" said winner Tim Merlier. We knew the danger was there. Of course, a fresh peloton is always dangerous.

"You're not supposed to ride on the bike path, but sometimes when you have to swerve, there's nothing else you can do. I want to get off as soon as possible, so it's extra dangerous."

"I'm happy to have finished in one piece. I'm also doubly happy to have won."

"I'm also very happy to have won.

According to Van der Sande, what made the finale so chaotic was actually the lack of confusion before it. Bruges - De Pannes was either nailed by a group sprint, or by a crosswind at De Molen, but Wednesday along the North Sea was calm and warm.

"It would be different and safer if there was a crosswind all day, but it's dangerous when you don't pedal until the last 20km like this. Everyone is fresh and I want to do something for my teammates."

Van der Sande did not place the blame on the organizers, but admitted that his fellow professional athletes were partly to blame.

"Normally you can't ride on bike lanes, but now everyone is riding on bike lanes and doing crazy things. It should be better," he said.

"It was exactly the same last year, but every time I come back and do it all over again. It's kind of dangerous for me."