"I think it's only human": Benoot explains his thoughts after van Aert's near miss in Dwars door Vlaanderen

First, a brief moment just over twenty kilometers from the finish. Benoot opened a gap behind Van Aert and Matteo Jorgenson and then looked with a questioning look at Powless, who, after hesitating for ten seconds, closed the gap to the other two Visma | Lease a Bike riders. The final seemed to start here, but would it go straight into a sprint? "I just wanted him to ride with me, that was all," Benoot said.

The Van Aert card was drawn, which Benoot thought was logical. "We had to stay together because there was pressure from behind. We never had more than a minute. With someone like Wout, you assume he could win the sprint, and we wanted to see Wout win. That decision was made, and I think we should regret it, but I also think it's human that this happened after last year's events."

"I think we wanted Wout so badly to win after everything that happened last year," Benoot repeats. "Consequently, we took too much risk to bring Powless to the sprint. In hindsight, it was a stupid decision. Of course, it escalated. Matteo had won last year. I had spent three weeks on Mount Teide with Wout, and maybe I wanted him to win more than winning myself. But we should have made a different decision."

How is that possible? Three such experienced riders with equally experienced sports directors in the car, and yet they all make the wrong calls? "We may have taken it for granted. In hindsight, we should have attacked more in the final. We made the wrong call when taking Powless with us. We could have put more pressure on him, but if Wout says he's good for the sprint, then I guess he is. Powless is a very strong rider, so we underestimated him a bit. We could have done it differently, but I repeat: we wanted Wout to win."

What did the two discuss in a brief conversation after the race? "Those are words I cannot repeat on camera," Benoot grins. "We regret it, but we rode strongly for the first time this spring. We made a difference like we have done in the past. So I am also proud, which gives me confidence, although we will feel more in the coming days than we do now."

And the Belgian is trying to take that good feeling with him into what is to come. "It was the first time this season that we could execute our plan almost perfectly. Finally, we could race the way we like to. We had been looking for that for a while in the spring. It's a shame we couldn't finish it because it would have been well deserved. But we have shown that we are very strong collectively."

"The difference in emotions is more than it should be because I think we rode well as a team. That is what we would have signed up for in advance, although that does not apply to the end result," Benoot summarizes the situation.