It was not three in a row for Sven Nys. The leader of Crelan-Euphony won both races last weekend but in Hamme he had to settle for second behind Wout van Aert. "Hats off to Wout," said Nys afterwards. "He did not crack under the pressure and is a deserved winner."

Sven Nys did not get the best start in Hamme. He drifted back to thirteenth, fourteenth position and had to start a long chase. "I started a bit too slowly today," he acknowledged. "Then you know that it is difficult, because there are always guys ahead of you who do not go fast enough and you have to have some patience. Furthermore, I also slid out again. I lost too much time there. In the first two laps, I have lost too much time."

Nys was still in second position, but knew it would be difficult to catch van Aert."I would have liked to have another duel but I lost too much time in the beginning. Of course that is also due to Wout. He broke the race open and took the race straight into his hand. I've done everything to get back, we rode at the same pace I think, but obviously he had built a nice lead. I kept on putting pressure on him and hoped he would make a mistake, but he did not. Hats off to him. This is a deserved win."