For the first time Wout van Aert missed the podium in a major race but he blames his poor performance at the World Cup race in Zolder on a stomach flu. "This is a tough week, but I hope to feel better soon. Luckily I did not lose my jersey."

It was a strange sight in Zolder: no Wout van Aert in the leading group. The victorious king rode an anonymous race in chase mode. "I am not really concerned with the fact that I am not in the top 2.  I did not have the feeling that I was hoping for. I didn't really expect to be eighth here.

"I knew it would not go like I wanted. On Monday I got a stomach bug and I've really only been on the bike on Thursday and Friday. Meanwhile, I am almost completely healthy again and of course you then hope that there will be a result, but I had no illusions. It is what it is," he told Sporza.

"Fortunately I remain the overall leader. Now I am very happy with the advantages that I have built in the rankings. I feel that I should not panic and that I certainly have a huge advantage. It is good for me that I have performed so consistently in the first half of the season. 

"Here I lost precious points to Lars van der Haar, but thankfully Sven Nys was even behind me and the damage is not too bad. Fortunately, I have built a nice lead in the last few months. I hope that it will be better tomorrow (Sunday) in Diegem which is also an important race, albeit for the Superprestige.

"It will be a tough week to get through. I hope I feel better soon. This was probably the fastest cross, so the next races should be better."

In the battle for seventh place, he was beaten by his teammate Tim Merlier. "I can not blame Tim," Van Aert said. "Without him, I would probably have been ninth. Tim did much wor and we brought Corné van Kessel back. In the end, the finish was just too fast, so he could not let me pass for the seventh place."