Wout Van Aert showed in the sand pit of Zonhoven that he is the strongest rider of the cyclo-cross field. "In the first part of the race, the plan was to see what was going to happening," Van Aert told Het Nieuwsblad afterwards. "In the last lap, I really enjoyed to have a nice lead."

"The plan was actually just to follow in the first half but I increased the pace in the running section. So I got a nice gap with van der Haar. I could build a nice lead. Surplus energy is a big word, but I could enjoy the last lap, "Van Aert admitted. "It really gave me a kick.That was nice.

"I think my dives into the pit were good. It was occasionally a bit risky, but to ride straight downhill is always difficult. The key point is at the back end of the circuit where there was also a running section. In the pit, you can lose the race, but you cannot win there. Last year I also did a double in one weekend. It's nice to win twice in a row. It's nice that I could live up to it today."