The two were quickly joined by a counter-attack from Axel Merckx and Sandy Casar; Boogerd and Lefevre sat up and allowed those two to join them. Casar struck a dog on the road when he and Frederick Willems were chasing Boogerd and Lefevre, and both of them went down. Casar got up quickly, but Willems was slower and wound up being absorbed by the peloton. The crash resulted in Casar tearing his gear and having to ride with a nasty wound on his exposed buttocks, since dropping off to change and have the wound treated would cost him his position. Later, the race doctor's car made it up to the leading group to tend to Casar's hip and right elbow, as well as a bee sting sustained by Boogerd.