"I could hardly follow for the first two hours. But I got through." - Remco Evenepoel explains that his national title wasn't a walk in a park

Remco Evenepoel let himself forget a bit about first half of the season with many ups and even more downs. After nightmarish Giro d'Italia, and slippery time trial on Thursday, the current World Champion could finally raise hands above his head.

"It was a super difficult race, with a super good Lampie and Wout," Evenepoel refers to his teammate Yves Lampaert and Wout van Aert, who rode together in front of the peloton for a long time. "It was actually ideal for us, both for me and for Tim. In the beginning I actually felt super bad after the time trial. I could hardly follow for the first two hours. But I got through. In the last two laps I felt really great. I said in the ear: 'I'm going to try again.' Went twice, twice it went well."

After the second attack, Evenepoel came clear with Alec Segaert. The two eventually fought it out to the line. "It was a very difficult race anyway. I didn't know if he was acting or if he was done a bit. I think it was kind of that second anyway. But I can't blame him anyway. It was very strong of him. I have a lot of respect for him being second twice at the Belgian Championships in his first year as a professional."

"I didn't worry about it and I trusted my sprint. It was a very long sprint, I've never had to sprint that long. But I still had enough explosiveness left to win. This is a very nice one."