After a season debut that culminated in success at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Wout van Aert had kept his streak of wins in the cobbled classics this year after winning the E3 Saxo Bank Classic. Jumbo-Visma stormed to a dominant performance that saw van Aert finish comfortably alongside teammate Christophe Laporte.
"I want to thank everyone on the team. It was an impressive team performance. The plan was that Christophe and I could keep calm until the Paterberg. We succeeded thanks to the hard work of the other guys. They helped us a lot," van Aert said after the finish.
The Belgian champion was not shy of hitting the wind as he attacked up the Taaienberg with 80 kilometers to go, breaking up the peloton into small groups. Once again, he was at the head of affairs when the Jumbo duo went off in the Paterberg, and from there on he powered his way through the final 40 kilometers in what was another impressive ride.
"Only at the top of the Paterberg I realised that Christophe and I had a gap. We got into an easy situation. We didn't have to hesitate and could ride full speed. At first, we had to fight to get a lead, but when we started the Karnemelkbeekstraat with a lead, I knew the chasers would have a hard time," he added.
With Tiesj Benoot and Mike Teunissen covering moves and sparking attacks inbetween van Aert's attacks, Jumbo had the race under control, and the duo could extend their gap over the chasing group that, despite organized, didn't commit fully to the chase: "And we also had Tiesj in the group. There was no discussion about who was going to win. I thank Christophe for giving me this victory. It means a lot to me. I am proud of the team because this is how we want to win. By racing like this, we create the best chance for everyone to win," he concluded.
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