"I was very lucky" - Destiny plays in Soren Waerenskjold's favor as the Norwegian secures GC in Belgium

After his final victory in the Baloise Belgium Tour, Soren Waerenskjold acknowledged that he was lucky. The Czech champion Mathias Vacek put up a great fight and nearly finished in a third place in the sprint, which would've put him on equal time as the Norwegian. But that didn't as the Lidl-Trek rider crossed the line fourth, and thus his Uno-X Mobility counterpart can celebrate a GC victory.

There was especially hard competition for the Golden Kilometer. "I tried to win the first sprint there and then stay on Vacek's wheel, but he was also close in the final sprint. I was very lucky that three more men finished ahead of him," said Waerenskjold, who made his most important contribution to the rankings in the time trial on the opening day. "I am very happy. This team is great because they did well all week."

"I want to thank them all. I wouldn't have won without these teammates. They rode great," said the young Norwegian, who knows that the overall victory did not come as a gift to him. "It was not easy. I have been tired the last few days. This certainly gives confidence, but I really gave everything and fought for every second. The rest was also very strong, but you have to keep doing your work. Tomorrow I will rest a lot and tonight I will have a beer at Zaventem, haha!"

Ultimately, Waerenskjold had four seconds left over Lidl-Trek rider Vacek. Alex Aranburu finished in third place, seven seconds behind the Norwegian overall winner.