Van Belle was pleased with his victory. “We have ridden actively in front the whole time. That was perfect. We took turns attacking. Tim van Dijke was in the attack in a five-man group for about 30 kilometres. We then rode behind the first chasers. Several attacks followed. Mick van Dijke and I did really well up the Kemmelberg. In the descent we created a gap with a group of six and kept going. I talked a lot with Mick about how we were going to handle it. In the last kilometre the group took a traffic island on the left. I passed it on the right and had much more speed, so I went full speed ahead. In the end, I finished with a nice lead. Mick finished in a good third place. It is nice to finish with such a team tactic and this way of racing. Now I will try to hold on to the jersey.”