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Van Aert wins Superprestige Niels Albert

Laurens Sweeck is second, Lars van der Haar third

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Wout Van Aert wins Superprestige Niels Albert

Wout Van Aert wins Superprestige Niels Albert
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Riders make their way through the sand at Superprestige Niels Albert

Riders make their way through the sand at Superprestige Niels Albert
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Riders make their way through the sand at Superprestige Niels Albert

Riders make their way through the sand at Superprestige Niels Albert
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Riders make their way through the sand at Superprestige Niels Albert

Riders make their way through the sand at Superprestige Niels Albert
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Wout Van Aert

Wout Van Aert
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Matthieu Van Der Poel

Matthieu Van Der Poel
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Lars van der Haar

Lars van der Haar
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Toon Aerts

Toon Aerts
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Michael Vanthourenhout

Michael Vanthourenhout
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Toon Aerts

Toon Aerts
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Wout Van Aert

Wout Van Aert
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Jens Adams and Laurens Sweeck

Jens Adams and Laurens Sweeck
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Lars van der Haar

Lars van der Haar
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Lars van der Haar

Lars van der Haar
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Wout Van Aert wins Superprestige Niels Albert

Wout Van Aert wins Superprestige Niels Albert
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Wout Van Aert

Wout Van Aert
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Laurens Sweeck

Laurens Sweeck
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Lars van der Haar

Lars van der Haar
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Matthieu Van Der Poel

Matthieu Van Der Poel
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Lars van der Haar on the Superprestige Niels Albert podium

Lars van der Haar on the Superprestige Niels Albert podium
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Laurens Sweeck on the Superprestige Niels Albert podium

Laurens Sweeck on the Superprestige Niels Albert podium
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Laurens Sweeck, Wout Van Aert and Lars van der Haar on the Superprestige Niels Albert podium

Laurens Sweeck, Wout Van Aert and Lars van der Haar on the Superprestige Niels Albert podium
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Laurens Sweeck, Wout Van Aert and Lars van der Haar on the Superprestige Niels Albert podium

Laurens Sweeck, Wout Van Aert and Lars van der Haar on the Superprestige Niels Albert podium
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Laurens Sweeck, Wout Van Aert and Lars van der Haar on the Superprestige Niels Albert podium

Laurens Sweeck, Wout Van Aert and Lars van der Haar on the Superprestige Niels Albert podium
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Wout Van Aert wins Superprestige Niels Albert

Wout Van Aert wins Superprestige Niels Albert
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Matthieu Van Der Poel hits the sand

Matthieu Van Der Poel hits the sand
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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The lead trio rides through the sand

The lead trio rides through the sand
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Matthieu Van Der Poel

Matthieu Van Der Poel
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Wout Van Aert

Wout Van Aert
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Wout Van Aert

Wout Van Aert
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Wout Van Aert

Wout Van Aert
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Matthieu Van Der Poel

Matthieu Van Der Poel
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Laurens Sweeck

Laurens Sweeck
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Wout Van Aert wins Superprestige Niels Albert

Wout Van Aert wins Superprestige Niels Albert
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
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Laurens Sweeck, Wout Van Aert and Lars van der Haar on the Superprestige Niels Albert podium

Laurens Sweeck, Wout Van Aert and Lars van der Haar on the Superprestige Niels Albert podium
(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

Wout Van Aert (Crelan-Charles) won the third round of the Superprestige Trophy in Boom, taking a solo victory nine seconds ahead of Laurens Sweeck (Era-Circus), while Lars van der Haar (Telenet-Fidea) rounded off the podium 14 seconds back.

It might have been act one of a big weekend in cyclocross, with the World Cup in Koksijde coming up on Sunday, but Mathieu van der Poel (Beobank-Corendon) was in no mood to hang around. The 22-year-old, who won in Gieten and Zonhoven, ensured another fast start

Van Aert and Kevin Pauwels (Marlux-Napoleon Games) were quick to react to the Dutch prodigy's acceleration though, making it a lead trio on the first lap.

Sweeck and van der Haar were among the leaders of a close chase group, but the separation didn't last long as multiple riders jumped across heading into lap two. Before the was time to tally up the new group makeup though, disaster struck for van der Poel.

The race favourite crashed on a corner, falling out of the lead group and seeming to injury his wrist and ribs. It was a rare misstep for a rider who has so far looked unbeatable over all terrain this season.

Up front, Van Aert wasted little time in pushing the pace to take advantage of the situation, shedding the remainder of the front group to go it alone. At the end of lap three, the gap to his great rival was 50 seconds.

The World Champion's lead over the chasers was 12 seconds after four laps, and Van Aert would remain in this comfortable position for the remainder of the race. Van der Poel, meanwhile, was busy picking riders off and working his way through the field as he tried to salvage something from the race.

Sweeck proved to be second-strongest in the attritional race for the podium spots, while the Telenet-Fidea duo of van der Haar and Quinten Hermans worked to slowly reel in Jens Adams (Pauwels Sauzen-Vastgoedservice). Van der Haar would make his decisive move for third on the penultimate lap.

Van der Poel was making moves too, moving up lap-by-lap into the top six before passing Adams for fourth on the last lap of the race. Not the win he had hoped for going into the day, or even a podium, but all things considered a good result.

It was Van Aert's day though, and a largely untroubled one, as he sealed the clean sweep of Elite races for Crelan-Charles.

Results

#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Wout Van Aert (Bel) Crelan - Charles1:00:01
2Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Era-Circus0:00:09
3Lars Van Der Haar (Ned) Telenet Fidea Lions0:00:14
4Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) Beobank-Corendon0:00:22
5Jens Adams (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen - Vastgoedservice
6Quinten Hermans (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions0:00:49
7Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions0:01:04
8Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Marlux - Napoleon Games0:01:24
9Tim Merlier (Bel) Crelan - Charles0:01:36
10Michael Boroš (Cze) Pauwels Sauzen - Vastgoedservice0:01:43
11Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux - Napoleon Games0:01:52
12Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux - Napoleon Games0:02:01
13Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ned)0:02:34
14Rob Peeters (Bel) Pauwels Sauzen - Vastgoedservice0:02:37
15Vincent Baestaens (Bel)0:03:24
16Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Steylaerts - Betfirst0:03:34
17Nicolas Cleppe (Bel) Telenet Fidea Lions0:03:41
18Tom Meeusen (Bel) Beobank-Corendon0:03:46
19Stan Godrie (Ned) Crelan - Charles0:04:08
20Gioele Bertolini (Ita)0:04:32
21Diether Sweeck (Bel) Era-Circus0:05:03
22Dario Tielen (Bel)
23Edwin De Wit (Bel)
LAPMathieu Willemyns (Bel)
LAPYu Takenouchi (Jpn)
LAPMichael Butler (GBr)
LAPGlenn Kinning (Irl)
LAPWouter Goosen (Bel)
LAPDavid Van Der Poel (Ned) Beobank-Corendon
DNFJoeri Adams (Bel)

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