In the penultimate lap Wout Wagtmans attacked. He had a gap of 1 minute at it maximum. Then Marcel Janssens reacted, together with Rik Van Looy they closed the gap. Van Looy and Janssens left Wagtmans behind. In the final lap the duo had a gap of 30 secondes. At that time, it looked like Rik II (Rik Van Looy) would become the new World Champion, but Janssens got cramps.
In the peloton Louison Bobet and Jacques Anquetil were leading the chase. Before Anzegem they could catch the two leaders. Subsequent Fred De Bruyne attacked. Rik Van Steenbergen didn't react, but Bobet did. There was a new leading group: the Frenchman Bobet and the Belgian De Bruyne. Because Bobet was a faster sprinter and would likely win from De Bruyne, there was a reaction of Van Steenbergen. Together with Van Looy, Jacques Anquetil and André Darrigade he could close the gap. A group of six rides could sprint for the victory.
At 400m of the finish Darrigade started the sprint. At 150m Rik Van Steenbergen came nearby and he won the sprint with six. Rik I won for the third time the World Championship. For the first time he succeeded in his own country.[3]
Final classification
Rik Van Steenbergen salutes the public, with king Baudouin in the front
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