Wout van Aert ended his 2016 season well with the victory at the Sylvestercross in Bredene. Laurens Sweeck was second and Gianni Vermeersch completed the podium. It is the thirteenth victory of the season for Van Aert.

There was no Mathieu van der Poel in Bredene as he suffers from a bruised neck after a heavy crash in Loenhout. Zdenek Stybar made his second straight appearance but mainly rode in the background. "I've lost my technique a bit," he admitted after the race. He finished in tenth place.

Unsurprisingly, Wout van Aert attacked almost immediately. The world champion set the pace, but in the beginning he tolerated that his opponents were on his wheel. They included Clement Venturini, Michael Vanthourenhout, Tim Merlier andToon Aerts.

After a few laps, it looked like Wout van Aert was on a bad day. In the fifth lap, he had to let Jim Aernouts, Venturini, Vermeersch and Michael Vanthournhout go after he made a mistake in the sand. He regained contact, but again went down in the sixth lap. Again it was the sand which caused problems.

The world champion rejoined the leading group. When Laurens Sweeck attacked, he went again even though he had to give it his all to make it across. Clément Venturini and Gianni Vermeersch competed for third place. With two laps to go, Van Aert put Sweeck under pressure and  he accelerated after the bars. Nonetheless, Sweeck could follow.

With one lap to go, Laurens Sweeck tried an attack, but Van Aert countered immediately and again took the lead. Sweeck could no longer get out of his wheel and finished second. Vermeersch won the sprint for third place.

Result

1. Wout Van Aert

2. Laurens Sweeck

3. Gianni Vermeersch

4. Clement Venturini

5. Jens Adams

6. Michael Vanthourenhout

7. Jim Aernouts

8. Tim Merlier

9. Diether Vanthourenhout

10. Zdenek Stybar