It came despite him crashing half way around the World Tour course.

The 24-year-old Bora-Hansgrohe man edged away from the rest of the final bunch with just 200 metres to go, to win in 4 hours, 20min, 11sec.

Elia Viviani from Italy crossed the line just one second behind to take second place, while his compatriot Giacomo Nizzolo finished third.

Great Britain's main hope for a home win, Mark Cavendish, crossed the line in 12th.

The race came down to a sprint finish after a five-man group that broke away earlier in the race was caught with just six kilometres to go.

"My team did an amazing job today because I crashed in the middle of the race and they had to get me back to the peloton," said Ackermann.

"I had to reward them for that and thankfully I could do it.

"I knew I was in good shape and told my team to get me in a good position.

"They were 100 per cent behind me and I'm so proud of what they did to give me a chance."

Alexis Gougeard from France won the King of the Mountains competition for the best hill climber.

Ackermann is now the second rider to win the Classic since the race was awarded top-tier World Tour status in 2016.

The race is billed as the world’s richest one day cycling race, with a total prize pool of €100,000 ($116,600/£88,900).