Wout van Aert won the DVV Trofee race in Ronse.  After s chain problem, he seemed to be out of the battle but a victory was made possible when Mathieu van der Poel had to deal with bad luck.

In a sunny Ronse Tom Meeusen started fast, Wout van Aert and Michael Vanthourenhout following in his wake. Mathieu van der Poel watched the trio from behind but moved steadily to the front.

When Van Aert disappeared due to chain problems, Vanthourenhout and Van der Poel took command. But the Dutchman’s pace was too much for Vanthourenhout, who was left behind at the midpoint.

Van Aert was chasing but victory seemed far away for the world champion.

An authoritarian Van der Poel was strong, even too strong for his own bike. The Dutchman destroyed his pedal and had to run a long way with his bike on the shoulder. Suddenly, Van Aert was again in front.

The world champion did not miss his chance. Van Aert dropped Vanthourenhout and Jens Adams and rode unchallenged to victory. Van der Poel seemed to get back to second spot, but eventually had to settle for fourth place.

Despite chain problems Wout van Aert could make his victory gesture in Ronse.

"I had bad luck twice. During the race I thought that it may not go well as in the last few weeks," said Van Aert.

"But I had planned to keep going. Mathieu van der Poel eventually had bad luck so maybe we were equal in that sense. Otherwise, we might have had a nice duel but now it was decided by bad luc on the day. Still, I'm very happy with the win.

"That chain problem should be urgently examined. Last week it could have been a coincidence. But today was the ultimate test, on a bumpy course, and it should be able to hold up.

"We have to take a good look at it. After the bike change, I had no bad luck, so we need to take the bike change as a reference to adjust the other bikes as well."

Mathieu van der Poel seemed to be heading for victory, but had to deal with equipment failure. "I was suddenly on my tube without knowing what was going on," he explains.

"Both the cranks were down, so it was hard to pedal. It has already happened once in training. I do not know why, perhaps they are sometimes not tight enough. It's too bad that it happens here, but it is part of it.

"The mental blow was not too bad. By the end of the race I felt drained. It was a very strange feeling to suddenly be on a bike where the cranks were good. That cost me a lot of time and energy.

"Because of that mechanical I had to walk on parts where you normally do not need to walk. Mentally it was quite difficult. I still wanted to go for the podium, but it was tough. I am satisfied with my race."