The Belgian Philippe Gilbert gave his team BMC the first classic success of the season. At the start of the Ardennes classics, he won the Brabnant arrow in a larger group sprint ahead of Australian Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge) and his compatriot Tony Gallopin (Lotto Belisol). Berlin's Simon Geschke (Giant-Shimano) just missed the podium in fourth place.
In the finale, the race was initially characterized by a leading group around the Australian champion Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge). However, their lead melted rapidly when Geschke followed the lead with almost 25 kilometers to go. A few kilometers later it was Gilbert himself who tried his luck. Both advances were thwarted by the field. In the last few kilometers it was Team BMC that paved the way for the former Belgian world champion to his first win of the season. On the home straight, he confidently blocked Matthew's late advance.