Wout Van Aert proved to be the best and soloed across the line in the Superprestige race in Asper-Gavere. But it was not all plain sailing for the Vastgoedservice.Golden Palace rider who hit a pole during the race. "The first half of the race was not technically good," Van Aert told Sporza.

"I made life difficult in the beginning because I was trying to ride where it was not possible. I managed to do so during the warm-up, but I should have known that it was his little harder during the race. Was Niels Albert (Van Aert's team manager, ed.) angry? Well, it is easy to make comments while watching.

"Of course I was mad at myself. When I rode into the pole, I hurt myself a bit and I was dropped on the climb. That was not good for the confidence. I even had the idea that I was slightly worse than the rest, and then I consciously took two laps to recover," Van Aert explained his tactics. "When I then tried to attack for the first time, I proved to be stronger than the rest. It gave me wings to get clear and reminded me of my U23 time when I won in the same way. It was not planned to go on the climb, but that's just the focus of this circuit. It has little to do with technique, it is pure strength."

In the standings, Van Aert now has a lead of eight points over Sven Nys whiler Kevin Pauwels is nine points behind in third. "It looks very good in the standings, which is good for the future. It will make the planning difficult, but I will now do everything possible to win the series. You can't pass up a classic like the Superprestige series."