text: Team Sky's Geraint Thomas had to settle for 14th place in an incident-packed Tour of Flanders as Norwegian Alexander Kristoff took victory in a sprint finish with Holland's Niki Terpstra. With Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara - winners of six of the last 10 races here - missing through injury, Thomas was one of the favourites to claim the title following his recent victory in E3 Harelbeke and third-place finish at the Gent-Wevelgem sprint classic. He was in contention for much of Sunday's race as Team Sky set the pace in the peloton for lengthy periods, but the Welshman was unable to recover ground as Kristoff (Team Katusha) and Terpstra (Etixx - Quick-Step) launched a late breakaway. Alexander Kristoff celebrates by spraying champagne after winning the Tour of Flanders . Norway's Kristoff poses after beating off competition from Niki Terpstra to win the Tour of Flanders race . The highly-fancied Kristoff came home in a time of six hours, 26 minutes and 38 seconds, with Terpstra just behind and local hope Greg van Avermaet of Belgium (BMC) seven seconds back in third. Thomas, looking to become only the second Briton to win the event after Tom Simpson in 1961, finished in the chasing pack almost a minute back. It was not to be for Team Sky, who had pushed hard throughout as they sought their first win in one of cycling's big five classic one-day races - and one that was not short of incident. Sir Bradley Wiggins, in one of his last rides for Team Sky, was one of a number of riders to hit the deck during the race when he crashed in the middle of the peloton while trying to negotiate a tight left-hand turn. Team Sky's Geraint Thomas finished in 14th position after struggling to close the gap on the likes of Kristoff . Although he needed a spare bike, Wiggins was able to continue but other riders suffered worse with New Zealander Jesse Sergent - who was part of a seven-man breakaway group - suffering what was feared to be a fractured collarbone after being hit by a neutral service car as it tried to overtake him. Incredibly, there was another incident involving a support car later on which saw Sebastien Chavanel also knocked off his bike and out of the race. The Frenchman was hit by his team car after it had been rear-ended by another vehicle. Other riders were also involved in spills on the testing surfaces while there was a near moment of farce when one of the inflatable markers straddling the road started to deflate, leaving the riders with barely enough room to get underneath without having to break stride. The late drama was created by Kristoff and Terpstra, though. They escaped the pack with around 30 kilometres left and, with no one able to catch them, it was down to one of them to take the crown. Terpstra bided his time on the final straight as he sat on Kristoff's wheel waiting for the right moment to attack, but when he did the Norwegian reacted and left his rival trailing as he claimed his second 'Monument' title after his Milan-San Remo triumph in 2014.
target: Norway's Alexander Kristoff won race after sprint finish with Niki Terpstra .
  Geraint Thomas was among favourites to claim title following recent win .
  The Welshman was unable to recover ground on Kristoff and Terpstra .