Kevin Pauwels was widely regarded as the man to beat in the GP Hasselt but like in last week's race in Gavere he had to settle for third.

"On the climb after the pit zone, Sven [Nys] and Tom [Meeusen] were stronger than me. They could ride it every time, I always had to give up," he told Het Nieuwsblad.

Pauwels stayed with the duo for a long time but then had to let his rivals go.

"Only then did I slow down with a view to [tomorrow's race in] Koksijde, but before that I gave everything."