Steegmans prevails as crash mars finish

The Quickstep rider wrested control of the 168-kilometre dash from Dunkirk to Ghent which came alive when when, with marginally less than three kilometres remaining, a Liquigas rider was pushed and fell sideways creating a domino effect in the pack.

Within seconds the entire width of the road had been completely blocked, leaving Steegmans and a handful of survivors to battle to the line.

Initially Erik Zabel, Filippo Pozzato, Robert Hunter, Romain Feulli, Robbie McEwen, Heinrich Haussler, Oscar Freire and Sebastien Chavanel all vied for the top spot, but ultimately it was Steegmans who led his Quickstep team-mate Tom Boonen over the line in their native Belgium with Boonen appearing to ease up.

Boonen, who took over the green jersey for best points rider despite missing out on the stage win, had looked to have the race in the bag at one point.

"I don't know if Tom Boonen let me win but if he did it's the best present I have ever had," Steegmans said. "Anyway the important thing is we were first and second. It's my biggest win and at the best possible place and I won my first race as a child just 200m from this finishing line. I was overjoyed at the end."

The result, which saw Boonen climb to seventh in the general classification as well as the lead in the points classification, has not affected the top of the overall leaderboard but for a while the future participation of yellow jersey occupant Fabian Cancellara was in doubt.

The Team CSC rider fell heavily in the crash and appeared to be struggling with an arm injury, but has declared himself fit.

He said: "When it happened it hurt but it's OK now. There's nothing wrong. We will let the physios have a look at the hotel. I was frightened when I fell and it was a tough day with lots of tension and lots of spectators. It was nice (having so many spectators) but also dangerous because you always have to stay alert."

The prologue winner currently holds a 13-second lead from Germany`s Andreas Kloden, who in turn is eight seconds ahead of Britain`s David Millar whose heroics 24 hours earlier in England had earned him the King of the Mountains' red polka-dot jersey.