Wout Van Aert continued his successful season when he came out on top in the Bpost Bank Trofee race in Essen after another great duel with Sven Nys. The pair stayed together throughout most of the race and the youngster held off the veteran in the final muddy section to continue his clean sweep of the Bpost Bank Trofee series, with Michael Vanthourenhout completing the podium. For world champion Mathieu van der Poel, the race ended as a disaster as he suffered a mechanical while riding in a winning position.

"In the beginning I was certainly in no position to take the win today," Van Aert told Het Nieuwsblad. "I did not have the best feeling. I had already decided that I should focus on the overall standings. 

"Mathieu was certainly not gone, but it would nevertheless have been a different race. Now it was a duel instead of a three-rider fight. I could just hold off Nys. At barrieres, it was a good idea to stay in the lead. I knew the decision would be made in the last stretch just before the finish. In this last section, I mainly looked at myself. Nys just had the bad luck that he had to try something because he was in the second position."

Van Aert will now take a rest. He will skip tomorrow's race in Overijse. He prefers a training camp in a warmer climate.

"I tried deliberately not to have a dip in form," he explained, "but I try to include some rest. I just got back from Calpe, and tomorrow I wil already fly back. Overijse did not fit completely into my program. It is a shame for the organizers but I have to try to still be good in January.