Wout van Aert's good results have done no harm to the 20-year-old. His Vastgoedservice-Golden Palace team have designed to offer him a new contract until the end of the 2018 season. "At the end of last week - after his impressive victory in Koksijde - we gave Wout a better proposal. Wout will now earn more than double of what he did," team manager Geert Vanhoof said.

This year U23 world champion Wout van Aert has had his first taste of professional cyclocross and he has had a storming debut: at the Koppenbergcross and in Koksijde he won two of the real classics. In between, he also won the U23 European Championships.

Timmy Simons, Club Brugge football player and co-manager of the Vastgoedservice-Golden Palace cycling team insisted that van Aert should have an appropriate reward.

"To get paid for your work is for me the best way to work together," Simons told Sporza.

"In recent months, Wout has progressed massively and he now performs at least double as good as we had expected from him. Then he should also earn at least twice as much."

Van Aert is delighted: "It feels great to get so much appreciation and trust from the team. In one year, my contract has already been adjusted twice. I have not asked for that and it shows that the team management believe in me.

"I am very happy that I joined this project last year. That I could thank the team with a resounding victory in Koksijde last Saturday completes the picture."

"Maybe I'm already a bit of a big guy. Before the season, I did not expect this and have not had time to think about it.

"Before the season, Koksijde was not in my schedule. But because there was no U23 World Cup, we decided to start with the pros. For the points and because it is live on TV.

"I'm not so focused on the fact that I beat Sven Nys. Sven has already achieved so much. I have a lot of respect for him and am glad that I can beat him. I am sure that I will still often get beaten by him .

"I am impressed by how Niels Albert has already made ​​the change to the role of team leader. He has helped me a lot with the tactics in the races, information about the rivals... 

"My ambition is to do  cyclocross. The road has never really appealed to me, cyclocross is my passion ."