Wout Van Aert again proved that he is currently in a class of his own on the international cyclo-cross scene as he claimed a dominant solo win in the Belgian championships. With a powerful attack in the fourth lap, he dropped all his rivals and even survived a small tumble to claim his first victory in a championship race. Laurens Sweeck delivered a great performance to take silver while Sven Nys won the bronze medal in his final participation in the event.

We have gathered a few reactions.

Wout Van Aert (1st)

After the Belgian cyclo-cross championships, Wout Van Aert could not hold back his tears. After the race he fell straight into the arms of his parents and during the interview, the tears of the young rider were visible. "I cannot believe this, this is the best day of my life," Wout Van Aert told Het Nieuwsblad.

"I cannot believe it. I was so focused the whole race and would like to thank everyone,” says an emotional Wout Van Aert. "This is the best day of my life, I am really very happy."

Last year it went badly in Erpe-Mere and Van Aert had to settle for bronze. Now he lived up to the expectations. "When others told that I am not a championship riders, I refused their suggestion," he said afterwards, "because I have already won at the Worlds (in Hoogerheide where he was U23 world champion in 2014, ed.) but of course, when it is constantly repeated, it is in the back of your mind. With this title, I get rid of all these stories.”

Yet it seemed to go wrong when Van Aert suddenly crashed in a muddy area. "That was a dangerous stretch. It went well nine times but once I was suddenly on the ground. Luckily I could get back quickly and could the others off.

"I really thought it was over. I was shocked. My steering wheel was crooked so I had to pit. Fortunately, I quickly found my rhythm.

The last lap was purely on character because I was empty. I had to hold myself back in the final lap to not celebrate with the spectators. From there I knew that nothing could go wrong. I rode past the pit zone where my father stood… They are very difficult weeks, but that does not matter ... This victory is for my dad.”

"Wout deserves that title. The way he wins here is simply stunning. That he does this in front of a home crowd is a little nicer. The sress factor is also much bigger, but he did it well," says his father Henk

"I have told him in previous years said that the jersey will come. The previous championships were ruined by mechanicals or stress. He gets just reward for his work now. Therefore the relief was so big for him and for me. And now to the Worlds? He will surely be a lot more relaxed come at the start. This Belgian title is a reward for his work. In the last years, he has sacrificed a lot. You do not get anything for free, it’s hard work. Not only in cyclo-cross, but always: if you work hard you'll be rewarded.”

Laurens Sweeck (2nd)

"I'm very happy that I am second at my first Belgian Championships with the pros. It's nice that I'm on the podium with a top rider who has already had a great career and a top rider who is in the early part of his career. When Woute went, I was a bit too far back but he obviously deserved to win,” Sweeck told Sporza.

Sven Nys (3rd)

Sven Nys was not too disappointed that he was unable to take his tenth national title in Lille. The Cannibal of Baal met record holder Roland Liboton in the Sporza studio after the race and made ir clear: "Roland may keep his record, he deserves it!"

"Obviously I do not find my rhythm immediately in this kind of fast race. In recent years, I have always had to do these races in the same way. I have to try to move up as much as possible so that I hit the front soon enough. I did not succeed today. When I came the front, Wout had already gone," Sven Nys told Het Nieuwsblad.

Yet Nys rode a clever race and constantly kept the podium within reach. "When I heard that Van Aert had crashed, I knew that anything was possible because with such a crash you will soon lose fifteen seconds. Unfortunately, I had lost contact with Kevin (Pauwels, ed.) at that point. Otherwise we could possibly still have made it back. Then I focused on second place, but then I made the mistake in the corner and I knew that silver was also gone," said an unfortunate Nys. "Still I'm happy and proud about this race because I am on the podium at a very fast race against rider who are twenty years younger."

Michael Vanthourenhout (4th)

Michael Vanthournhout was just short of the podium and finished fourth. "In the last lap I was sitting on Sven Nys’ wheel. He accelerated in places where he had to and when I had a hard time, he did it again. That last section was too much. In the first part I had to get into my rhythm. In the middle I started to feel good, but then the race was over. In the last lap I felt good, but Sven was a bit better."

Tom Meeusen (9th)

"When Wout rode away, I stayed in the wheel for a long time," said Tom Meeusen who was ninth. "I thought that he was not super because he had made some mistakes. The pace was also extremely high. But when he went, yeah ... It was impossible to follow that speed. In any case, he was hard to beat. I made a mistake and it is not possible to close a gap to Van Aert. Wout’s crash? I could perhaps have insisted more. But he maintained that high speed.”