Initially part of a group of nine riders to move away from the peloton with over 50km to go, Deignan would go solo on the Côte de La Redoute, pulling out a minute's lead.

On the last climb, the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, Australia's Grace Brown dropped the rest of the group to chase Deignan - but would only get within ten seconds of the Briton, ultimately finishing second.

The Netherlands' Ellen van Dijk, the British rider's Trek-Segafredo teammate, came out on top in the sprint to take the final podium spot.

"I think the nicest thing about this team is that we are allowed to race on instinct and not to fear failure," said Deignan after the race.

"I thought, I need to be over La Redoute before Anna [Van der Breggen] and Annemiek [Van Vleuten] and Elisa [Longo Borghini], so I just raced on instinct."

Brown was closing quickly, which startled her, but Deignan aimed to look elsewhere to finish the race.

"It was really horrible," she added.

"In the end, I decided to try to chase the motorbikes in front of me rather than think about her behind me, because mentally it is just cracking you when you think like that.

"I knew that she would descend faster than me, so I was just praying the line would come quicker."

Also in the front pack that emerged were Dutch riders Marianne Vos and Amy Pieters, with the absence of Van der Breggen and Van Vleuten noticeable. 

Despite a strong descent in the closing kilometres from Brown, she could not quite catch the Briton, finishing nine seconds behind.

Vos and Pieters finished fourth and fifth behind their compatriot Van Dijk in a sprint, 2min 19sec behind the winner, while Van Vleuten and Van der Breggen were missing from the top 10.

In the men's race, France's Julian Alaphilippe was dealt a double blow of embarrassment after initially losing this year's title when he celebrated before the line, allowing Slovenia's Primož Roglič to come through for the win.

The 2020 Tour de France runner-up made sure to race through the line and not up to it, as he secured the title.

However, second was not the Frenchman's finishing position after a big swerve in the final sprint was deemed as impeding a fellow cyclist, relegating him to fifth.

Instead, second went to Switzerland's Marc Hirschi - who won La Flèche Wallonne just four days ago - with the 2020 Tour de France winner, Slovenia's Tadej Pogačar, finishing third.

Pogačar's sprint was ruined by the Frenchman, who had to settle for the lowest part of the podium.

Finishing fourth was a third Slovenian, Matej Mohorič, who was two seconds adrift of the winner.

"It's unbelievable, it was so close," said Roglič.

"It goes to show you can never stop believing and never stop pushing until the last centimetre. 

"It was the first time I did the oldest race in the calendar."

Alaphilippe, the new road race world champion, left Belgium empty-handed but Pogačar's day was a bittersweet one.

"I have a bit of mixed feelings after that finish," said Pogačar.

"I felt really good all day, my team really worked hard for me, then in the finish I felt good, I started sprinting and saw myself in good position. 

"I saw the line and said to myself ‘I go for the win, I go for the win’, then just one moment changes everything, and I’m thinking ‘I’m going to crash, I’m going to crash’.

"But then I stayed on the bike and I crossed the line in fourth place but they disqualified Alaphilippe and I got third, so a bit of mixed feelings right now."

The Netherlands' Mathieu van der Poel, Canada's Michael Woods, Belgium's Tiesj Benoot, France's Warren Barguil and Poland's Michał Kwiatkowski rounded off the top 10 in the second breakaway group.