Van Aert's trip to Brittany pays off

Wout van Aert (Cibel-Cebon) preferred to travel 600km and race the Cyclo-cross International de La Mézière race in Brittany on Sunday, but the trip was worth the effort, with the world champion taking a morale-boosting win and collecting a significant appearance fee.

Belgian media suggested Van Aert received a 20,000 Euro fee – double his usual amount, and flew to western France from Belgium to avoid the long drive. It was his third win of the season after struggling to match Mathieu van der Poel’s dominance in the more important races.

Van Aert warmed up on the rollers before his race and used his superior speed to quickly go clear of the pack. Keen to push himself just a week before the Belgian national championships, he raced hard for an hour, opening a two-minute lead on his rivals.

At the finish, Van Aert was already warming down on the rollers before Clement Venturini (AG2R-La Mondiale) beat Quinten Hermans (Telenet-Fidea) for second place.

“I attacked early because I wanted a hard race. I needed a hard race because the Belgian championships next week will be a hard race,” Van Aert said in French as he warmed down.

“It’s never easy to win, but my gap was big and that’s good.”

Results