Wout van Aert continued his rapid rise through the cyclo-cross ranks when he finished second behind Sven Nys in the Jaarmarktcross in Niel. Nonetheless, the youngster regretted the many mistakes that had made him unable to battle for the win.

A little more than a week ago, Wout van Aert proved that he is already one of the best cyclo-cross riders when he won the famous Koppenbergcross after having beaten Sven Nys in a controversial sprint. After a few races with the U23 riders, he was back at the elite level in today's Jaarmarktcross in Niel.

Van Aert proved that his result on the Koppenberg was no fluke when he finished second behind Nys. While he was unable to follow the outstanding Belgian champion, he beat Kevin Pauwels in an exciting duel to take the runner-up spot.

"Even if I had not had a bad start, I would have been unable to battle for the win. Maybe I could have followed a little longer but today my problem was that I made mistakes on every lap," he told Sporza.

"Second place is beautiful. I knew that I had to get rid of Kevin Pauwels in the final lap. I felt particularly strong in the sand secion and from there, the distance to the finish was pretty short."