Van Aert wins in Diegem against a great Pidcock and a Van der Poel who ran out of energy at the end

Van Aert wins the Diegem Supersprestige ahead of an excellent Pidcock who fought until the end for the victory. Van der Poel finished 33 seconds away from the lead after fading on the penultimate lap. Iserbyt is fourth and shows a great version to put away the doubts after the crash in Val di Sole.

Van Aert beats a powerless Van der Poel and a great Pidcock

The race began with an incident at the start in which some riders from the back were involved. The first lap was marked by Vanthourenhout's crash and the good work of Iserbyt, who led the race for a part of this first lap.

On the second lap, the leading group was already reduced to four contenders. Although they were led by Iserbyt, who was ready to recover his sensations, the Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal rider could not keep up with the pace of the magnificent three as soon as they increased their pace.

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Pidcock took the initiative, but it was Van Aert who was the most effective. At first it was Van der Poel who was the only one to hold off the Belgian, again leaving Pidcock far from the fight for victory. After passing the sand, Van der Poel changed the pace and opened a small gap with his main rival. Behind, Hermans crashed.

The third lap started with Van der Poel leading, Van Aert 4 seconds behind and a now great Pidcock 5 seconds behind. Despite the Dutchman's attack, the two chasing riders caught him, completing the rest of the lap together.

At the start of the fourth lap, Van Aert took the lead while behind Vanthourenhout, Iserbyt and Van der Haar maintained their particular fight to be the best of the rest.

To the delight of the fans, once past the halfway point of the race the three men at the front were still on the same pace, which was to be expected for Van Aert and Van der Poel, but not so much for Pidcock, who was doing a great job on the wet ground of Diegem.

Van der Poel took advantage of his good pace in the sand to open a small gap again, while Van Aert and Pidcock struggled to close the gap they had previously been able to make up.

A distance that served to finish the lap with a 4-second advantage over Van Aert and Pidcock, who, without standing out, was still hanging on to the Belgian's wheel.

Unlike the previous attempt, this change of pace was fruitful for the Orange Beast, which was slowly gaining a few seconds over them. It was then that Pidcock overtook Van Aert to lead the chase for Van der Poel.

And again the passage through the sand, in which Van Aert lost time with Pidcock, while ahead Van der Poel added a few more seconds to his advantage.

Behind him, Iserbyt held on to fourth place, ending all the doubts that had arisen about his form after his crash in Val di Sole.

The gap had increased to 9 seconds with Pidcock and 13 with Van Aert. The British rider did not give up and tried to connect with the leader, while it seemed that Van Aert was suffering.

In the first part of the sixth lap, Van Aert caught Pidcock, and the two found the wheel of a Van der Poel who seemed a little tired.

At that moment, Van Aert did not want to give any truce to the Dutchman and pushed on. A somewhat marginal distance that has increased greatly in the passage through the sand, where Van Aert has found a way to move with the speed that he had not been able to until then.

From that point on, Van Aert managed to gain several meters on the other two contenders for the victory.

To the astonishment of many, Van der Poel did not give up and recovered from what seemed to be a blow that put the race very difficult for him. Van Aert and Van der Poel wheel to wheel. Again. And Pidcock, who also arrived, on a day in which he did not want to miss the party that these two usually make every time they coincide in the mud.

Pidcock took the lead and rode with an iron fist while Van Aert followed close behind. Van der Poel again lost a few important seconds, which showed that today he may have lacked some strength to keep the pulse of the other two favorites.

An outstanding Pidcock forced Van Aert to give his best, while Van der Poel's chances faded little by little, until almost disappearing completely in the last pass through the finish line, where he arrived with a 10-second disadvantage.

The Van Aert-Van der Poel duel was changed to a Van Aert-Pidcock. It only remained to be seen which of the two would launch the attack.

Van Aert took over the lead before the final sandy section. The Belgian managed to enter with some advantage, but lost it when he had to get off the bike, while Pidcock was able to make that stretch on the bike.

The two were determined to fight for the top step of the podium until the end. Pidcock overtook Van Aert, who gave it back to him and the British rider took the lead again.

Even so, Van Aert eventually recovered the first place. With just a few corners to go, the Belgian managed to hold his position against a Pidcock who could do no more. Van der Poel dropped to 33 seconds on a day in which he tried several times, but in the end did not have the legs to fight to the end for the victory.

Diegem Superprestige– Elite Men

1. Wout Van Aert 1h 00' 46"
2. Thomas Pidcock +6"
3. Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 33’’
4. Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) +1'08’’
5. Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) +1'45"
6. Lars Van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions) +1'55"
7. Quinten Hermans (Tormans Cyclo Cross Team) +2'
8. Thibau Nys (Baloise Trek Lions) +2'29"
9. David Haverdings (Baloise Trek Lions) +2'56"
10. Kevin Kuhn (Tormans Cyclo Cross Team) +2'59"