Preben Van Hecke was a surprise Belgian road race champion. Jan Bakelants tried to bridge the gap to Van Hecke and Jürgen Roelandts, but failed. "It was a tactical mistake not to go along in the early break," says Bakelants.

"I did not have a good week," the AG2R rider told Het Nieuwsblad. "But today I had quite a good feeling. It was a nice attempt to try to join the leaders with Stijn Devolder. It is a shame it did not work for which especially Ben Hermans was responsible. But Van Hecke and Roelandts have ridden strongly. I chose not to be in the leading group. It turned out to be a tactical mistake."

"It was a very boring race," Bakelants continued. "You always had to sit up front on the climb but there was always in front of me and so I was always a little too far back. I was not able to show my good legs today. " 

Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise started with 22 riders. "That will certainly have helped, but then you still need the right rider to finish it off," Bakelants concluded.

Edward Theuns was in the early break.

"That was not the plan," Van Hecke's teammate said. "But in such a large group you do not waste more energy than in the peloton.When I saw that the composition was positive, I decided to go along and that was a good tactical choice. When the group split, I had to make an effort on two occasions. I paid for that. Preben was on his toes when Roelandts went and it was it. It's amazing how he finished it off, even though Roelandts rode very strongly. Yesterday I saw all that Preben had a goal in today's race."