Van der Poel suffered successive punctures on laps 2, 3 and 4 but each time closely before the pit lane, not losing much time but allowing van Aert to close the gap each lap, finally getting back together on lap 4. Behind the two leaders the gap kept widening, however the first chaser changed often as punctures caused many riders to drop back from a good position. Several riders suffered several punctures and some riders even dropped out of the race as they ran out of spare tyres, including 2008 World Champion Lars Boom.