Home rider Lars van der Haar won the second World Cup race of the season in Valkenburg after an impressive solo ahead of World Cup leader Wout van Aert.

For the third year in a row, van der Haar was the strongest on the Cauberg to win his first race of the season.

After the race van der Haar said: “I felt good today, and I’m happy with the good week of training and rest that I’ve had. I wanted to ride my own race on this parcours, rather than sitting on others’ wheels, as it suits me really well.

“Wout went first and I was able to close the gap, which felt good. When he asked me to take over I immediately went full gas and didn’t look back.

“Until the final lap I gave my all, and I recovered a bit so that I could go fast on the hard sections. Taking the victory here is a great feeling.”