"I went full to the finish and didn't look back. Luckily, that was enough for the victory" - Alec Segaert describes his first professional victory at GP Criquielion

While Strade Bianche was certainly a dirty race, it didn't quite compare to what riders went through over at Belgium's Grand Prix Criquielion where only teeth could have been seen at tired riders' faces under the layer of mud. The biggest smile was the one of Alec Segaert who had just scored his first professional victory, narrowly holding off the flying peloton in final meters of the race.

"It was quite a closed race. The peloton controlled the breakaway, so the lead stayed around 3 minutes. At 70 kilometers from the finish, there were a few climbs. Although sometimes the race broke open, the differences remained small," Segaert described in a press release.

"Until about 15 kilometers from the finish, two riders had a small gap. The plan originally was to go for Milan Menten in the sprint. I would bring him into the best position or react to late attacks, as was happening now."

"Someone from Alpecin-Deceuninck jumped away after the cobbles. I was able to react and play the game. He took me to the last uphill straight. I had to start early to stay ahead, so at 500 meters I attacked. I went full to the finish and didn't look back. Luckily, that was enough for the victory. This shows that we were ready for this race. We had several ways to win the race. This was strong work from the team."