Bad luck for Michael Vanthourenhout at the Superprestige Diegem. The Belgian was considered one of the favorites to win, but just a few meters into the race he clipped out of his pedal, lost his balance, and crashed hard onto the pavement. Not only did this ruin his chances for a stage victory, but it also severely damaged his battle for the overall title.
In the women's race, we already saw a crash in the first corner involving Inge van der Heijden, but in the elite men's event, there was unfortunately chaos as well. As the race started, Michael Vanthourenhout clipped out of his clipless pedal and thus had an unpleasant introduction to the asphalt.
The team leader of Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw took several riders down with him in the crash and was visibly frustrated. However, Vanthourenhout refused to give up, got back on his bike, but faced a massive chase to catch up.
This is a major setback for Vanthourenhout, as he was in contention for the Superprestige overall win. Before the Diegem race, he was second in the standings, just one point behind leader Niels Vandeputte.
| Rank | Rider | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Niels Vandeputte | 76 | |
| 2 | Michael Vanthourenhout | 74 | |
| 3 | (3) | Joran Wyseure | 51 |
| 4 | (1) |  Joris Nieuwenhuis | 47 |
| 5 | Jente Michels | 45 | |
| 5 | (1) | Emiel Verstrynge | 45 |
| 7 | (1) |  Felipe Orts Lloret | 36 |
| 8 |  Kevin Kuhn | 32 | |
| 9 | (6) | Tibor Del Grosso | 30 |
| 9 | (2) | Toon Vandebosch | 30 |
