Crashes undermined Canyon Eisberg’s charge as Mikkel Bjerg celebrated Dorpenomloop Rucphen glory on Sunday.
Rory Townsend and Joe Fry both hit the deck and were forced to retire before the 188km tear-up was lit up in the closing stages.
Andrew Tennant, Louis Rose-Davies, Charles Page and Matt Nowell all remained prominent until the closing kilometres of the UCI 1.2 battle in Holland.
The former, who celebrated his 31st birthday on Friday, was the best-placed at the finish, crossing the line in 25th position.
Only then a split in the peloton during the final kilometre prevented a better result for the Wolverhampton-born rider.
However, victory was fought out between Bjerg, of Axeon Hagens Berman, and Lotto Soudal U23 rider Rune Herregodts who had earlier escaped the clutches of the main group.
Despite a determined chase, which strung the peloton out through the twisty finale, the duo held on by a few seconds to sprint for glory in Sint Willebrord.
Defending champion Maarten van Trijp, of Destil Parkhotel Valkenburg, completed the podium places as the bunch came up agonisingly short in their chase.
Rose-Davies finished 37th as he rolled home in the same group as Tennant. Nowell was 69th in the final reckoning and Page 77th as they finished a further 11 seconds adrift.
Townsend and Fry had been on the floor as a raft of crashes marred the opening stages of the contest.
The former retired immediately following a tumble in the feed zone. Fry managed to chase back on after his crash but climbed off later in the race.
Fortunately, neither rider appears to have suffered any lasting injuries. The full Dorpenomloop Rucphen result will appear here.
