Mathieu van der Poel delivered a solo show in Hamme but a big part of the attention at the Flandriencross was for Greg Van Avermaet. The honorary president of the race attended the race on crutches and watched the show of the Dutch champion. "Mathieu and Wout should remain in the field as long as possible," he said.

"It's going pretty well for me," Greg Van Avermaet told Sporza. Two weeks ago, the BMC rider underwent surgery on his fractured ankle after a crash in training. "I feel improvement every day and can move it a little more.”

"On Tuesday we will have another check and then a decision will be made whether I can ride on the rollers. Usually, you can ride your bike before you can walk. I'm lucky that I'm a bike rider and not a football player," he aaded.

Because of his injury Van Avermaet is forced to take rest. "That's not a bad thing", BMC directeur sportif Valerio Piva told Sporza.

"That's right," Van Avermaet responded. "During the season I would like to return as soon as possible, but now I feel that I don’t have to force anything. I just spend more time in the office than the others do. That feels good, but I look forward to riding my bike again."

Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert dominate the cyclocross season. Should the two top riders make the transition to the road?

"They'll certainly do that, but they should remain in the field as long as possible," Van Avermaet said.

"If you can dominate a sport, you have to enjoy it. They can have fun duels and that makes their generation great. But at some point they will move to the road.”