Mathieu van der Poel had been criticized for his decision to skip the U23 European championships held in Lorsch last weekend in favour of the Superprestige round in Ruddervoorde. The yound Dutchman answered all malcontents in the best possible way, finishing runner-up in the latter event and moving into the lead in the series.

"I think it takes courage to decide not to take part in the European championships," according to Cyclingnews Van der Poel said, defending his decision. "It would have been fun, but even if I won the race I would not get many chances to wear the jersey. I'm racing most of my season in the Elite Men category. In the end I think it was a wise decision. Most other riders at the start today were fresh."

Van der Poel was a revelation of the opening Superprestige round in Gieten, but slightly underperformed in several following events, having openly claimed to feel fatigued. First rounds of the Ruddervoorde event didn’t look more promising for the young Dutchman, but he impressively managed to bounce back and finish runner-up, taking over a leadership in the whole series.

"I rode a different line and got stuck in deep sand. I then tried to move up with Kevin Pauwels but he rode just a notch too quickly and made me gasp for air. I had to recover for a long time. A few laps earlier I tried to attack but behind me Klaas Vantornout probably kept riding."

"It could've been even better. I wanted to lead the race when entering the sand section but I made my move too early and rode in third place. It was too far to reach the sprint. I'm glad with second place nevertheless. Tom deserved the victory. Becoming the new leader is a nice bonus."

"All in all I'm pleased. After the races in Valkenburg and Zonhoven I lost a bit of confidence. I'm glad I'm back. I was too tired. An additional week of rest helped a lot."