For Van Aert, it is his fourth victory of the season after his successes in Strade Bianche, the Primavera and the first stage in the Criterium du Dauphiné. Van Aert’s national title is Team Jumbo-Visma’s fourteenth victory in 2020.

Van Aert started fast in Koksijde and systematically expanded his lead every lap.

“A national title is always something very special”, Van Aert said. “This is a very nice title. I am really proud of this. It was far from easy. It was a power course and much more technical than I had expected. It had some tricky corners. You constantly had to be careful and stay focused. And certainly also ride the ideal line. The plan was to have some power left in the last lap, but to be honest, I mainly did it on determination. Luckily, I had already taken a good lead after my fast start. I knew exactly what I was doing. And if you then hear from the team car and also from people on the side of the road that you are in the lead, it certainly gives you extra morale.”

Van Aert will now focus on the Tour de France. “Above all, I hope to be able to show my Belgian tricolore in more than one race”, he referred to his crash one year ago. “The goal for me in the Tour remains the same: to help the team leaders. But if the opportunity arises in one of the stages, I will definitely try to win again.”