"Many teams wanted a defensive race" - Wout van Aert laments lack of attacks to make the difference at Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne

Wout van Aert is a rider that due to his popularity also receives a lot of criticism. After Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne he certainly won't receive this over lack of attacking, but the defending champion didn't see the stars align in a race that was ultimately ruled by the sprinters.

“There wasn’t more in it in terms of result. Did my legs feel the way I wanted? Yes, they did. But many teams wanted a defensive race, so that made it difficult," van Aert said in words to Het Laatste Nieuws after the race. Visma had a disappointing Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, where more than anything else, it seemed as if the Belgian struggled with positioning in some crucial moments.

Today in Kuurne, where he was the defending champion, he launched at least two powerful attacks. The first of which he was followed, and in the second one (on the final climb of the day) he was followed by Roger Adriá of BORA, who then refused to work to try and bridge across to the front group.

“I played a bit then of course. I knew that I would never ride there alone. I had to keep trying to convince him to ride in front," he describes. "At first I was also told that Meeus was no longer in the group, so I didn't understand it well. But afterwards I saw that Jordi was there. Then it is an understandable tactic. To have a slightly better chance, we should have been in that leading group."

The Dutch team raced offensively, but in the end the race wasn't selective enough for that scenario to win as in the previous two editions where Team Visma | Lease a Bike took the victory. Van Aert then supported the team's Plan B, Olav Kooij, to the inevitable bunch sprint.

"I am more satisfied than yesterday. We had come for more, but today we knew that such a scenario was possible. We had Olav with us for that and he sprinted to a great second place. We tried," he concluded. Next up is an altitude camp for the Belgian, who will go away from the spotlight for a few weeks whilst Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel make their European season debut in a week's time.