Leon Van Bon won the 62nd edition of Nokere Koerse. He was part of a leading group of 3 riders. His companions Aart Vierhouten and Geert Steurs finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. Aart Vierhouten won the mountain classification.

In recent years, Nokere Koerse was always held under beautiful spring weather, but not this year. As predicted, it was a cold race day with a lot of wind, in short, traditional Flandrien weather. Despite the cold, the public turnout was very good. As announced, the organization could only attract 4 pro-tour teams this year. The fact that Nokere Koerse takes place 3 days before Milan-San Remo likely played a significant role. Bert Roesems, winner of Nokere Koerse 2006, was absent because he had to replace the sick Rodriguez in Milan-San Remo on Saturday. Niko Eeckhout, Jimmy Casper, and former winners Matthé Pronk, Steven De Jongh, and Max Van Heeswijk were considered favorites.

At the first passage on Nokereberg, the race was already in a decisive phase. A leading group of 26 riders had a half-minute lead. The group included Tom Steels, Geert Steurs, Greg Van Avermaet, Wilfried Cretskens, Cedric Vasseur, Leon Van Bon, Markus Eichler, Matthé Pronk, Jonas Ljungblad, Rene Weissinger, James Vanlandschoot, Niko Eeckhout, Johan Coenen, Artur Gajek, Torsten Schmidt, Albert Timmer, Maarten Tjallingii, Aart Vierhouten, Hilton Clarke, Geert Omloop, Tobias Erler, Maint Berkenbosch, Konstantin Schubert, Roy Curvers, Felix Odebrecht, and Sebastian Langeveld. The main peloton saw its gap gradually increase, leading the race management to remove the peloton from the race at the end.

40 km from the finish, Cedric Vasseur, Johan Coenen, Aart Vierhouten, and Maarten Tjallingii tried to break away from the leading group. The escape did not succeed. A new attempt by Aart Vierhouten, countered by Geert Steurs and Leon Van Bon, was successful. Among the chasers, a split occurred. Greg Van Aevermaet, Markus Eichler, Jonas Ljungblad, Rene Weissinger, James Van Landschoot, Maarten Tjallingii, Hilton Clarke, Geert Omloop, Konstantin Schubert, and Roy Curvers were among the first chasers. Belgian champion Niko Eeckhout ended up in the second chasing group. His effort at the start of the final lap on Nokerebergdid not yield any results.

Geert Steurs, still a neo-professional, was the first to be dropped by his companions Van Bon and Vierhouten. Then Leon Van Bon managed to break away from Vierhouten, who had already been involved in a crash this afternoon. The crash did not prevent Aart Vierhouten from being honored as the winner of the mountain classification.

With Leon Van Bon, the organizers add another prestigious name to the honor roll. Team leader Van Houwelingen did not want to hear any talk of ‘saving strength for Saturday’ when Van Bon will also start in Milan-San Remo. “This is not just a little race. If you see the public interest and the media attention, then this victory certainly counts,” said Van Houwelingen. He also referred to a moment from the past with Max van Heeswijk, who also won on the Nokereberg in 2004 and then had a great Milan-San Remo.

Result: (196.9 km – speed: 40.759 km/h).