Van der Poel: I could just do my own thing

What failed in Francorchamps succeed in Mol.  Mathieu Van der Poel again took a resounding victory, his ninth of the season.

"I was pretty happy that I was not as cold as the day before in Francorchamps," Mathieu van der Poel told Het Nieuwsblad. "It was a great course here, a race of my heart. I like to ride the sand strips. It went pretty easy today. As I came well through the sand, I could approach the other sections perfectly. During the whole race, I could do my own thing and determine my own pace.”

"On Saturday I have learned that I must be content with second position. You simply cannot win everything. I will now work to be ready for next weekend. We have some brilliant races in Essen and Overijse.”

Van Aert: At least I won the main race of the weekend

Wout van Aert again had to acknowledge the superiority of Mathieu van der Poel. On the climb, the wworld chamion made several mistakes that allowed van der Poel to extend his lead. Second place was the highest possible for Van Aert.

"I made a mistake on the climb and Mathieu could get a gap. In the next lap, I had problems in the same place and to make matters worse, I went over my head. Then my race was over, "Van Aert told Het Nieuwsblad. “That was not my favorite section. I never found a good line. In the rest of the course, I had some seconds to make up, but then I again lost more time on the climb. I'm just glad I was able to win on Saturday in Francorchamps. I actually won the main cyclo-cross race of the weekend because we were fighting for a classification yesterday and this was a just single race. I must immediately catch my plane to Spain. I will go on a training camp in Calpe to work more on the condition.”

Meeusen: It is not easy to catch Van Aert and van der Poel

Behind Van der Poel and Van Aert, Tom Meeusen took third place. 

"I had a really good day and could go through the sand perfectly," Meeusen told Het Nieuwsblad. "I was well positioned until Kevin Pauwels crashed in front of me and I could not avoid him so I hit the ground myself. Just then Mathieu and Wout went on the attack. I tried to bridge the gap but did not succeed. To make up time on those two riders is just not easy. I'm quite happy with third place. It had been a while since I was allowed to stand on a podium. "