"There were a thousand ways to win and one way to lose" - Visma rider looks back at Dwars door Vlaanderen disaster

Dwars door Vlaanderen could've been the peak of Visma | Lease a Bike's spring - with three men in a leading group of four, it seemed impossible not to win. The greater was everyone's disbelief at the finish when experienced men Wout Van Aert, Tiesj Benoot and Matteo Jorgenson were outfoxed by Neilson Powless.

Afterwards, there was a lot of criticism towards Van Aert for taking on the responsibility - and failing. Towards sport directors in the car for not stepping in and ordering a bullet-proof winning tactic. Towards Benoot and Jorgenson for not being the least bit selfish - when it mattered. For one last time, we return to that fateful day with Visma's documentary about past spring.

It's true that when men in team car let riders think up the plan themselves, the damage was already done. "Consult each other," said team manager Grischa Niermann from team car. To which Benoot immediately replies: "We win with Wout in the sprint." A decision that, as he would later regretfully admit, Van Aert makes himself.

Although Niermann agrees without contradiction, there is still some doubt. "Can't we let Wout ride away? And tell Powless that he can come second?" he asks fellow team manager Maarten Wynants. "I would say trust," Wynants calms his colleague. Niermann nods: "Yes, we have to trust him. If we say we don't think he can beat Powless, we don't have trust."

Sweet forever. Now this defeat will carry on with Wout and the whole Visma for next months, if not years. They allowed impossible to happen - the Omloop 2015 to repeat itself. It's also an important lesson for everyone involved to never underestimate their opponent - but even more importantly - to not overestimate ourselves.

"There were a thousand ways to win and one way to lose. The one way was to get Neil to the finish," Jorgenson said, annoyed. "We should have played the game. But we all wanted to see Wout win."