World champion Wout Van Aert (Crelan-Charles) captured a seemingly easy win at the Belgian championships in Ostend on Sunday afternoon. In absence of arch rival Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) there were no Belgian rivals ready to fight up against the 22-year-old cyclo-cross star. Despite the spectacular course that was displayed at the Ostend hippodrome and North Sea beach, the championships missed tension to please the neutral spectators.
"That’s understandable, but fans also like to see the best rider win the race," Van Aert said at the post-race press conference in the Thermae Palace Hotel, next to the Royal Galleries in Ostend. "At a small race it’s sometimes an option to think about the tension. That’s not the case not at the championships because there’s always the option of mechanical failures. Immediately I rode at my own pace. I didn’t expect that the gaps would be that big. For a rider, it’s the most fun way to win. Of course, a win after a close race is nice but at the championships this is extra-ordinary.”
Straight away, the gaps were massive in Ostend. Van Aert managed the holeshot and never allowed anybody else to take over the lead on Sunday. One of the key obstacles in Ostend was a massive temporary bridge with an altitude of eight metres that connected the Wellington hippodrome with the beach, allowing car and tram traffic to pass underneath. The ramps of the bridge were as steep as 21 degrees.
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Riders were to tackle the bridge twice a lap, once heading to the beach and once back the hippodrome. When climbing up the bridge back to the hippodrome, Van Aert already had a bonus of seven seconds. He was only seen back at the finish line.
"Everybody starts the race with great ambition," Van Aert said. "When you’re riding together for a few laps, others are gaining belief that something is possible. It was my goal to suppress that hope as soon as possible. If you’re 10 seconds ahead after one lap then they realise that it’ll be hard to come back. They will more likely focus on second place rather than getting back to the front."
Coming into the race, Van Aert was the clear top favourite, and the race showed that there was no reason to have doubts about that status. Belgium’s best cyclo-cross rider of the moment emphasized that he wasn’t a winner until he crossed the finish line.
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