Wout van Aert: "Very happy with victory, I was able to keep my cool and made no mistakes"

Wout van Aert had a great day in the Superprestige Heusden-Zolder. The Belgian beat his rival Mathieu van der Poel to register his third victory of the season.

"It was nerve-wracking throughout the race," Van Aert said in the post-race interview. He continues, "Mathieu broke open the race, and I think we both felt we wouldn't get each other off today. The second half of the race, I was just thinking about what tactics I was going to use."

Neither of them could drop the other. It remained a tense situation throughout the race since no one showed signs of slowing down. "I preferred to make it a long sprint. So I thought it was better to be in the second position. Mathieu always came out of the bunch with a bit of a lead, and then I had to push. It's all hands on deck anyway when he went full-on, but I was actually in a position where I wanted to be. When I got on the last 'hump', Mathieu was on foot or made a mistake. That's how I ended up in the lead after all," describes van Aert.

In the final sprint, Van der Poel shoots out of his pedal. It was a very satisfying victory for Van Aert, especially after yesterday's defeat. “For once, I was able to keep my cool and made no mistakes. I am very happy with this victory because I think I had taken a bit too much rest this weekend," Van Aert concluded.