Van Aert, who became cyclo-cross world champion at Heusden-Zolder in 2016, quickly established himself in the lead group on the Terlaemen circuit. The Flemish rider accelerated with three laps to go. Only Eli Iserbyt could follow and the battle between the two continued until the final lap. In the last technical section, Van Aert used a blistering acceleration to cross the line solo.

"It was another beautiful stage. I am happy to have won here again”, a delighted Van Aert said. "I wanted to build up the race slowly today and didn't mind riding together for a bit longer. I've been building up my stamina over the last few cyclo-cross races, and I knew that the last fifteen minutes were often in my favour. So, I am happy that I was able to make a difference here.”

Next Saturday Van Aert will ride his last race of the year in Hulst. "It's a nice circuit, and I'm looking forward to racing there. It is an intense course with a lot of steep climbs. I'll try to recover for two days now so that I can take on Pidcock and Van der Poel on Saturday.”