Today Wout van Aert crushed the opposition at the Bpost Bank Trofee race in Essen and took a big lead in the overall standings. Despite having been a dominant figure all season, the Belgian was surpised to have been in a class of his own.

Wout van Aert again proved that he is currently the best cyclocross rider in the world when he took a dominant win at the Bpost Bank Trofee race in Essen. The Belgian was amazed by his own superiority that allowed him to ride more than half of the race as the lone leader.

"I never thought that I would dominate today's race in that way," the U23 world champion told Sporza. "With Rob (Peeters, ed), I had a plan to start fast.

"Suddenly I just got stuck at the front of the race. And when after each lap you hear that you have added a few more seconds to your advantage, it makes you fly."

Van Aert even managed to erase his big deficit to Sven Nys in the overall standings and he is not a clear leader. "I will definitely try to defend my leadership position.

"But if it goes wrong, it's not a shame. It's the first time I lead one of the series at the pro level. It would allmost be criminal if I end up as the winner."