Wout van Aert wins men's Zilvermeercross

Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) won his first race as new Belgian national champion in Mol, beating Laurens Sweeck (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) in the sand and snow at the Zilvermeercross. 

In the absence of Mathieu van der Poel and several other big-name rivals, Van Aert was able to dominate the racing, quickly passing fast starter Lars van der Haar and the rest, with only Sweeck able to hold his wheel as they fought for traction in the sand. 

The two gradually pulled away from their rivals as the snow began to fall, with Van Aert eventually opening a gap in the final two laps after a slight error by Sweeck.

Van Aert then cruised to victory, finishing almost a minute ahead of Sweeck and even further ahead of van der Haar.

Before the start Van Aert played down reports that he is close to signing a new contract with Jumbo-Visma but he will now head to Spain to join his WorldTour teammates for a week of training. 

He will be back in Belgium for the final round of the cyclo-cross World Cup in Overijse and the World Championships in Ostend, Belgium at the end of the month.

"Winning in the tricolor is fun. I hope to find a nice photo and I will frame it," Van Aert said.

"Sweeck rode very well. I put him under pressure in the sand but he stayed on my wheel. At a certain point I had a few metres and then I had to keep going. I rode hard  and so at the end it was tough, also because of the wind. "