Wout van Aert: "The fourth victory in this Christmas period, that's insane"

Wout van Aert put on an incredible show at Exact cross Loenhout, defeating Mathieu van der Poel and Tom Pidcock in a thrilling finale to earn his fifth victory of the season.

"It was a difficult race for me," Van Aert said in the post race interview. He continues, "Mathieu was technically much better today. I had to unload time after time and didn't find a point where I could make the difference myself. So I'm very happy that I was able to hang on."

Van der Poel matched up well with the Belgian today as well. However in the final moment he made a small mistake which was more than enough for van Aert to claim the victory. “After I joined, I tried to recuperate for the sprint. There I was in third position and deliberately left a few metres on Pidcock. That way I could get out of his slipstream."

This is Van Aert's third consecutive victory, and his fourth during the busy Christmas period. "The fourth victory in this Christmas period, that's insane and I didn't expect it. The legs are very good and so is the morale, then sometimes things go a bit easier," concluded van Aert.