Mathieu van der Poel took another victory at the Kasteelcross in Zonnebeke. Aftr a long solo ride, the world champion arrived with a big advantage over on Rob Peeters and Diether Sweeck.

We have gathered a few reactions from the race.

Sven Nys (7th)

Lap three in the Kasteelcross: Mathieu van der Poel has already built a nice lead when Sven Nys takes off in pursuit. A few moments later, the Cannibal from Baal is standing on the ground. "I was comfortable in second place and wanted to accelerate. But today the course was loaded with small stones. One of them got into my gear and I had to get off for a while. Too bad, because I had just got going," he told Het Nieuwsblad.

Nys could forget about a podium spot but he did not think about abandoning. "In the end, I have done a good race. Of course the result is unfortunate because that seventh place not really reflects my performance. But after my mechanical, I wanted to try wanted to try do something and the cheers of the fans spurred me on. I did not want to withdraw because I needed this race to get into the rhythm for the World Cup tomorrow in Lignières-en-Berry. Today I had bad luck, tomorrow it might be someone else," he concluded .

Mathieu van der Poel (1st)

"This was a very nice race, a real old-fashioned mud cross", Mathieu van der Poel told Het Nieuwsblad after his seventh win of the season. "It was really as it should be. During the warm-up, I already knew immediately that I would have a good day. The work I did in recent months really starts to pay off. It is clear that I can also be there in a harder race. I took a step forward this season. Her I could pretty quickly  ride my own pace and it went surprisingly well. This may not be a race from one of the series but this victory is always a bonus. I hope to have recovered sufficiently form this race for Sunday. I saw a few pictures of the course. It will be a completely different circuit compared to the mud in Zonnebeke. Now I want to get quickly to the hotel in France and recover as much as possible.”

Rob Peeters (2nd)

Rob Peeters started well but then fell back before eventually finishing second. "I was the first at the start and could pick my own lines. But after the first lap, I had to leave a gap.

"Maybe I started too fast. I then just rode my own pace and in the final I could close some gaps. It is always difficult, but it suits me.

Rob Peeters does not expect to get selected for Worlds after his second place in Zonnebeke. "The world Championships this year will not be for me. Because of my performance this season, I haven’t qualified,” the Crelan-Vastgoedservice told Het Nieuwsblad. "If the coach has a different view, I will do my best for the team. If my performance in the coming days are really good, I can maybe still count on a selection. But I do not think it will happen this year."

Diether Sweeck (3rd)

Diether Sweeck was rewarded with third place, his first podium at the pro level. "I had a very fast start, but then I crashed. I had to recover from that and then there was a problem with my gear," he told Sporza.

"I was constantly stuck at about 30 meters from Peeters and Denuwelaere, but in the last laps I still managed to pass Jan to get third place. So I am very satisfied with this podium."