Lars van der Haar went into the Koppenbergcross as one of the favourites. The Dutch champion rode an aggressive race but faded near the end and had to settle for sixth.

Lars van der Haar was 6th in the Koppenbergcross today, the second race of the bpost bank trofee. The race was won by Wout Van Aert.

After a strong start, van der Haar soon started to open up a decent gap over his chasers, setting a strong tempo. But he couldn’t hold the gap until the end of the race.

After the race, van der Haar said: “I wanted to go for a fast start due to the warm weather and hard course, and to see what happened. But I realized that I did not feel super and the chasers came back. I had some hard laps in the leading group and I faced some mechanical problems and had to change my bike. I was able to get back to the group again but the tank was empty and I couldn’t follow anymore.

“Of course I hoped to stay in the group and do a sprint. But it was a hard final and I just wasn’t good enough today. Focus is now on tomorrow, GP Zonhoven."