Van der Poel got off to a fast start and put Van Aert under pressure. The Belgian champion didn't allow himself to be knocked off balance and quickly caught up to his rival. The same was true for world champion Pidcock, who was able to catch up every time Van Aert and Van der Poel dropped the pace.

Together, the three riders entered the last lap. With another attack, Van der Poel appeared to have shaken off Van Aert and Pidcock forever, but a mistake in the mud kept the Belgian and British rider in contention for the victory. Van Aert seized that opportunity with both hands and decided the sprint in his favour.

"It was a difficult course", Van Aert said. "Mathieu performed better on the technical sections today, but I could not make it difficult for the other two. I was happy all along that I could keep up. To be honest, I believed Mathieu took off on the final lap. But he made a mistake that allowed me to come back, so I had to work to get myself together before the sprint."

"The plan was to be a few metres behind Tom so I could sprint from his slipstream. That worked out well." Van Aert finished the year on a high note, winning four cyclo-cross races in eight days. "It's really insane. I didn't expect this when I started this part of the season. The legs and my morale are good. Then, occasionally, things go a bit easier."