Wout van Aert (Vastgoedservice) has added the Ereprijs Paul Herygers to his palmares. The 20-year-old Belgian talent seemed to be at ease when he beat Gianni Vermeersch and Tim Merlier in Brendene. For Van Aert, it is already the 13th win of the season if one counts races at both the elite and the U23 level. "I have two goals: the Bpost Bank Trofee and the Belgian championships," he says.

Wout van Aert found it easy to become the successor of Zdenek Stybar at the Ereårijs Paul Herygers.

In the race in Bredene, Sven Vanthourenhout opened the battle with a fast start. Under the impetus of the experienced cross rider, a group of five riders was formed. Vanthourenhout was joined by the Vastgoedservice duo of van Aert and Joeri Adamas and the Sunweb duo of Tim Merlier and Gianni Vermeersch.

Vanthourenthout paid the price for his hard work and fell behind. Going into the penultimate lap, a brief snow- and hailstorm made things difficult and this is when van Aert decided to launch his attack. At the finish, he had a comfortable lead over Vermeersch and Merlier.

Van Aert has already been victorious on 13 different occasions (seven times at the pro lvel and six times against the U23 rider). This season van Aert has beaten the elite riders in the prestigious races in Oudenaarde, Koksijde and Essen.

Wout van Aert was clearly the strongest in Bredene, but he refused to describe it as an easy win. "Winning is never easy. It was a difficult course with lots of mud. I wasn't able to make a difference before we got to the finale," he told Sporza.

"If I had gone full gas at the beginning, I would have difficulty making a gap. I had to be careful at the start, but I wanted to do everything in the end. Finally, I was able to drop Merlier and Vermeersch.

"Now I've got two big goals this season. I want to focus fully on the overall win in the Bpost Bank Trofee. The Belgian championship in Erpe-Mere should suit me."

"I am very happy with the second place," Vermeersch said. "If yoy know who won the race, it is certainly no disgrace. Van Aert was very strong. There is little to do against him when he is riding as he is.  When he accelerated, we had no response. I knew then that second place was the maximum I could get."

"I think I have met the expectations," Merlier said. "At the beginning of the cross, I had a very good feeling Then I fell back a bit. Suddenly mye feet got cold and it made it harder. I lost contact with Vermeersch and had to focus on keeping Joeri Adams at bay. "