"It's a real shame that I couldn't finish it off": Late attacker Alec Segaert caught just 100 meters from finish line in Nokere

This year's edition of Danilith Nokere Koerse culminated in an expected sprint finish won by Jasper Philipsen. But it didn't need to end that way. At least it seemed so for a long time thanks to Alec Segaert, whose acceleration within the last 15 kilometers nearly caught the entire peloton by surprise. In the end, only final 100 meters stood between Segaert and his epic first victory in Bahrain - Victorious colours.

"This is obviously a huge disappointment," the Belgian told Sporza afterwards. The 20-minute effort took its toll on the talented timetrialist who simply couldn't push the same power anymore with finish line in sight. "My legs just wouldn't cooperate anymore."

As the race cameras followed Lidl-Trek's youngster Thor Michielsen crawling out of a small road-side stream he fell into, Segaert took his opportunity in a moment of peloton's hesitation to play his own card. "I didn't have time to hesitate then and went for it full throttle – actually, that was the plan beforehand as well."

The idea was not precisely to venture on a long solo, however since nobody opted to join the 23-year-old, he simply pedalled on. "The hard part of the loop – from the Doorn to the Herlegemstraat – was a tailwind, but the long stretch afterwards was a headwind. I wanted to put everything on the last run and see if there would be a separation. It turned out I was riding solo, so I just went full throttle."

The peloton watched the Belgian time trial specialist build up a lead of nearly half a minute in no time. "I also heard that my teammates were blocking well. I think it's a real shame that I couldn't finish it off."

If it were a simple flat finish, Segaert would've most likely fenced off the peloton. But unfortunately for the lone attacker, the last kilometer in Nokere is first on the cobbles, and then goes uphill. The last thing any attacker would like to see after a long solo.

"What did I feel [in the last kilometer]? Pain," he said with a grimace. "I didn't dare look back at that moment and heard the encouragement from [sports director] Nicolas Maes – he is the best at that – but ultimately it wasn't meant to be."

Then the heart-breaking moment came. Less than 100 meters from the finish line, peloton lead by Jasper Philipsen steamrolled over the empty Segaert who can't be happy with a 20th place as a consolidation prize for his effort.

"When I saw the shadow coming from behind me, then... well," he still lamented. "I knew the form was good, but I came to achieve a result, and the best possible result almost happened. This is really unfortunate."

However, the Belgian does not want to dwell solely on the disappointment. "It was nice to see that our young team immediately wanted to go with me. That is why I came here, and what I will take with me into the rest of this spring," he concluded.