Kris Boeckmans (Lotto Soudal)  has started the new season strongly. After a stage win at the Etoile de Besseges, he won a second race today at the Le Samyn. "The last few years I've had bad luck," he says. "It is nice that things are ginally going well and I can take such a nice victory on home soil."

Boeckmans beat Gianni Meersman in the sprint. "I just did my own sprint," he tells Het Nieuwsblad. "It was a fair sprint and I think I managed to hold him off. This feels good. I hope I can continue this momentum for a while. I will try to stay good and hopefully I won't get sick. Then I can hold this condition for a while.

"A win is always a big joy. The passage of the last pave was the decisive moment as it split the bunch. I entered the cobbles in fifth position. The rider in front of me cracked and then I noticed that it was hard. Then we were less than three kilometers from the finish. With this group we went to the finish. I started my sprint two hundred meters from the finish line. I boxed Gianni Meersman in so he could not come around me. Then I held it to the line.

"The whole team did the perfect race today. The peloton gave the break with Thomas [De Gendt] a six-minute lead which is dangerous when Thomas is in front. They had to work very hard to close the gap. That played in our favor. The rest of the team countered every attack and I had to sit in and keep myself in front.

"That last pave was difficult, though it is relatively easy if you compare it with Paris-Roubaix. Today, however, it ensured an adequate selection which was also made by the wind. The other sections had been resurfaced and so were pretty easy.

"This second season victory makes me very happy. It was a matter of time for everything to come together and for me to get that first win for while. That happened in the opening stage of the Etoile de Besseges. This is now the second of the season."

Last year Boeckmans had several crashes in the sprint, including one at the Tour of Qatar. Then he suffered a concussion at Paros-Nice and bruised ribs at the Three Days of De Panne. "I crashed in the wrong moments. I also had some injuries and it took some time to recover. Now I have a good winter behind me, have prepared well and have not been sick. That has helped me to start the season well. I hope I can keep the ball rolling."

On Friday he will start the Three Days of West Flanders. "I hope I can do a good prologue," Boeckmans says and makes it clear that he will focus on the GC. "In Bessèges I did a good time trial, I hope to do that again. A prologue should suit me even better. I'm keen on performing well in the Three Days of West Flanders."

For Boeckmans, it is his fifth professional victory, his second in 2015. His previous victories date back to 2010 and so he hopes to be able to celebrate a bit more often in the future. He did not complain about the inclusion of more cobbles.

"This is not a mini-Paris-Roubaix," he laugs. "Those who have done that race won't find it difficult. In Roubaix, the paves would maybe have had a rating of a half star. But I am pleased with this course. It is more difficult. It it also a long finishing straight which suits me."