Mathieu van der Poel has underlined his supremacy at the end of the season. The Dutchman won his first race in the rainbow jersey when he held of Wout van Aert and Sven Nys with a big margin in the Bpost Bank Trofee race in Lille. Van Aert had already secured himself the overall win.

Mathieu van der Poel was tired at the start in Lille but still wanted to pay homage to his rainbow jersey. His brother David rolled out the red carpet on the opening lap and two laps later the world champion decided that it was time to make his move.

At first, Sven Nys could follow him but when van der Poel made another acceleration, the veteran had no response. Like in Tabot, van der Poel was in a class of his own and the rest desperately tried to chase him down.

Van Aert refused to give up and tried to catch his rival but riding alongside Lars van der Haar, he was never able to catch a glimpse of the rainbow jersey.

The fight for second place was a fascinating one. In the final laps, van Aert tried to put get rid of his rivals. And it paid off as he won the sprint for second while Nys took third. 

The runner-up at the World Championships took home the overall win in the Bpost Bank Trofee series and will get his chance to take revenge today at the Superprestige race in Hoogstraten.

Result:

1. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) in 1h02'22"
2. Wout van Aert (Bel) 37"
3. Sven Nys (Bel)
4. Lars van der Haar (Ned)  
5. Kevin Pauwels (Bel)
6. Vincent Baestaens (Bel) 52"
7. Tim Merlier (Bel) 53"
8. Marcel Meisen (Ger)
9. Philipp Walsleben (Ger) 1'01"
10. Tom Meeusen

Overall standings:

1. Wout van Aert (Bel) 8h20'34"
2. Kevin Pauwels (Bel)  6'17"
3. Sven Nys (Bel) 7'14"
4. Tom Meeusen (Bel) 7'53"
5. Lars van der Haar (Ned) 12'12"
6. Rob Peeters (Bel) 17'26"
7. Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) 17'55"
8. Joeri Adams (Bel) 18'14"
9. Philipp Walsleben (Ger) 20'14"
10. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) 20'18"