Förster was surprised that he won the 208 kilometres long race. Förster told Dutch TV station SBS6: "I had bad legs today."  Gerolsteiner's German sprinter  

continued: "My form wasn't good at all but as Krauss opened the sprint I only had to follow him. I won and that's the only thing that matters."

 

Behind the two Gerolsteiner teammates Belgian veteran Belg Niko Eechout (Topsport Vlaanderen) sprinted to a third place.

 

The winner of the 2006 edition of the race, Tom Boonen, was on the original startlist but Boonen decided not to start and instead read a statement about his positive test for cocaine during a press conference in Belgium.

 

1  41 Forster, Robert           Gerolsteiner                 4:58:55 (41.851 km/h)
2  45 Krauss, Sven              Gerolsteiner                  s.t.
3 142 Eeckhout, Niko            Topsport Vlaanderen           s.t.
4 126 van Hummel, Kenny         Skil - Shimano                s.t.
5  28 Terpstra, Niki            Team Milram                   s.t.
6   7 Weylandt, Wouter          QuickStep                     s.t.
7 134 Maaskant, Martijn         Slipstream - Chipotie         s.t.
8 177 Traksel, Bobbie           P3transfer - Batavus          s.t.
9 108 Van Dijk, Stefan          Mitsubishi - Jartazi          s.t.
10  54 Hutarovich, Yauheni       Francaise des Jeux            s.t.
11 136 Sutton, Chris             Slipstream - Chipotie         s.t.
12  11 Brown, Graeme             Rabobank                      s.t.
13 152 Kusters, Yvo              Cycling Team Jo Piels         s.t.
14 141 De Haes, Kenny            Topsport Vlaanderen           s.t.
15 118 Zanotti, Marco            Preti Mangimi-Prisma Stu      s.t.
16  84 Kopp, David               Cycle - Collstrop             s.t.
17  33 Goss, Matthew             Team CSC                      s.t.
18  63 de Vocht, Wim             Silence - Lotto               s.t.
19  57 Offredo, Johann           Francaise des Jeux            s.t.
20  94 Neirynck, Kevin           Landbouwkrediet-Tonisste      s.t.
21  55 Jegou, Lilian             Francaise des Jeux            s.t.
22 128 Wagner, Robert            Skil - Shimano                s.t.
23 104 Kaupas, Vytautas          Mitsubishi - Jartazi          s.t.
24 168 Westra, Lieuwe            KrolStoneE Continental        s.t.
25  73 Grillo, Paride            CSF Group - Navigare          s.t.
26 156 Bos, Marco                Cycling Team Jo Piels         s.t.
27 165 Pronk, Jos                KrolStoneE Continental        s.t.
28  64 Jacobs, Pieter            Silence - Lotto               s.t.
29   6 Steegmans, Gert           QuickStep                     s.t.
30 176 Hagenaars, Luc            P3transfer - Batavus          s.t.
31 147 Vanspeybrouck, Pieter     Topsport Vlaanderen           s.t.
32  86 Pronk, Matthe             Cycle - Collstrop             s.t.
33  78 Tomei, Francesco          CSF Group - Navigare          sz.t.
34 157 Brus, Marco               Cycling Team Jo Piels         s.t.
35 178 Vierhouten, Aart          P3transfer - Batavus          s.t.
36  53 Gudsell, Timothy          Francaise des Jeux            s.t.
37 133 Frischkorn, William       Slipstream - Chipotie         s.t.
38 167 van Gulik, Fulco          KrolStoneE Continental        s.t.
39 127 Veelers, Tom              Skil - Shimano                s.t.
40  65 Kaisen, Olivier           Silence - Lotto               s.t.
41   1 Cretskens, Wilfried       QuickStep                     s.t.
42  91 Bellemakers, Dirk         Landbouwkrediet-Tonisste      s.t.
43  48 Zberg, Markus             Gerolsteiner                  s.t.
44 106 Nevens, Sven              Mitsubishi - Jartazi          s.t.
45  83 Giling, Bas               Cycle - Collstrop             s.t.
46 122 Curvers, Roy              Skil - Shimano                s.t.
47 105 Mouris, Jens              Mitsubishi - Jartazi          s.t.
48  42 Fothen, Thomas            Gerolsteiner                  s.t.
49   5 Schwab, Hubert            QuickStep                     s.t.
50 155 Bloks, Hans               Cycling Team Jo Piels         s.t.
51  88 Suray, Gil                Cycle - Collstrop             s.t.
52 171 Groen van, Arnoud         P3transfer - Batavus         s.t.
53 121 Beppu, Fumiyuki           Skil - Shimano                s.t.
54 184 van Amerongen, Thijs      van Vliet - EBH - Elshof      s.t.
55 124 Goesinnen, Floris         Skil - Shimano                s.t.
56  85 Persson, Lucas            Cycle - Collstrop             s.t.
57  34 Haedo, Juan Jose          Team CSC                      s.t.
58  92 Delfosse, Sébastien       Landbouwkrediet-Tonisste      s.t.
59  95 Scheirlinckx, Bert        Landbouwkrediet-Tonisste      s.t.
60  51 Cherel, Mikael            Francaise des Jeux            s.t.
61 166 van de Meent, Erik        KrolStoneE Continental        s.t.
62  52 Gilbert, Phillippe        Francaise des Jeux            s.t.
63  24 Grabsch, Ralf             Team Milram                   s.t.
64 101 Abakoumov, Igor           Mitsubishi - Jartazi          s.t.
65  15 Lowik, Gerben             Rabobank                      s.t.
66  36 Lund, Anders              Team CSC                      s.t.
67  31 Blaudzun, Michael         Team CSC                      s.t.
68  74 Frapporti, Marco          CSF Group - Navigare          s.t.
69  72 Finetto, Mauro            CSF Group - Navigare          sz.t.
70  35 Klostergaard, Kasper      Team CSC                      s.t.
71  76 Pagoto, Andrea            CSF Group - Navigare          s.t.
72  66 Roesems, Bert             Silence - Lotto               s.t.
73  71 Canuti, Frederico         CSF Group - Navigare          s.t.
74 154 Berkenbosch, Maint        Cycling Team Jo Piels         s.t.
75   2 De Jongh, Steven          QuickStep                     s.t.
76 175 Van Der Pluijm, Marvin    P3transfer - Batavus          s.t.
77  47 Schreck, Stephan          Gerolsteiner                  s.t.
78  21 Diudia, Volodymyr         Team Milram                   s.t.
79 125 Rooyakkers, Piet          Skil - Shimano                s.t.
80  43 Gatto, Oscar              Gerolsteiner                  s.t.
81 148 Verbist, Evert            Topsport Vlaanderen           s.t.
82 102 Criquielion, Mathieu      Mitsubishi - Jartazi          s.t.
83 135 Patour, Kilian            Slipstream - Chipotie         s.t.
84 173 Ljungblad, Jonas          P3transfer - Batavus          s.t.
85 187 Vierbergen, Lars          van Vliet - EBH - Elshof      s.t.
86 163 Lenferink, Jasper         KrolStoneE Continental        s.t.
87 115 Honchar, Serghiy          Preti Mangimi-Prisma Stu      s.t.
88 114 Mazzanti, Massimo         Preti Mangimi-Prisma Stu      s.t.
89 188 Vrijmoed, Maurice         van Vliet - EBH - Elshof     s.t.
90  18 Posthuma, Joost           Rabobank                     s.t.
91   4 Hulsmans, Kevin           QuickStep                     s.t.
92  13 Hayman, Mathew            Rabobank                      z.t.
93 143 Hovelijnck, Kurt          Topsport Vlaanderen           s.t.
94 107 Omloop, Geert             Mitsubishi - Jartazi          s.t.
95 182 Hoogerland, Johnny        van Vliet - EBH - Elshof      s.t.
96  68 Tjallingii, Maarten       Silence - Lotto              s.t.
97  97 Steels, Tom               Landbouwkrediet-Tonisste      s.t.
98  32 Bochman, Lasse            Team CSC                      s.t.
99   8 Wynants, Maarten          QuickStep                    4:59:15     0:20
100 181 Bruin, Ivor van Vliet - EBH - Elshof 4:59:17 0:22
101 185 van Leijen, Joost         van Vliet - EBH - Elshof     4:59:21     0:26
102 132 Dean, Julian              Slipstream - Chipotie        4:59:23     0:28
103  14 Leezer, Tom               Rabobank                     4:59:42     0:47
104  96 Stannard, Ian             Landbouwkrediet-Tonisste     4:59:43     0:48
105 145 Nolf, Frederick           Topsport Vlaanderen          4:59:49     0:54
106  16 Martens, Paul             Rabobank                     4:59:54     0:59
107  12 de Groot, Bram            Rabobank                     5:01:41     2:46
108  61 D'Hollander, Glenn        Silence - Lotto               s.t.
109 111 Centrone, Vincenzo        Preti Mangimi-Prisma Stu      s.t.
110 158 Hassink, Arne             Cycling Team Jo Piels         s.t.
111 162 Kavsek, Rik               KrolStoneE Continental        s.t.
112  98 Van Mechelen, Wouter      Landbouwkrediet-Tonisste      s.t.
113  82 Criel, Tom                Cycle - Collstrop             s.t.
114 123 Den Bakker, Maarten       Skil - Shimano                s.t.
115  23 Gajek, Artur              Team Milram                   s.t.
116  26 Poitschke, Enrico         Team Milram                   s.t.
117  22 Eichler, Markus           Team Milram                   s.t.
118  62 De Greef, Francis         Silence - Lotto               s.t.
119   3 Engels, Addy              QuickStep                     s.t.
120 164 Ligthart, Pim             KrolStoneE Continental        s.t.