Van Aert stirs tail in the final act in Benidorm: "Could go deep, make the race, and challenge Van der Poel"

"I have some pain in my wrist," said Van Aert, who had to stop by the doctor for a quick check after the finish. "Meant to be, because my mother broke her wrist a day ago. They were further married on July 13, and I wore number 13 today. This was my day," he then laughed in the flash interview. "I had bad luck along the way, but I kept going, and I love that."

Joy prevailed, that much is clear. "I felt pretty strong, but Mathieu was also strong. He just had a lot of bad luck, so it's too bad it didn't come to a real battle. When he fell away in the final, I still had to beat the rest, and that wasn't easy. I'm glad I was able to do it. It's a nice feeling to win, but the main goal was to find good legs today. I succeeded in that. It was a nice day.

Uphill, he did manage to compete with his great rival on a few occasions. That climb is the center of gravity on this course. After that, you get into that little forest, and maybe you can't see it very well, but it's really steep. That's the point where you can make the difference, which I and Mathieu sensed quickly. I really had to go to the limit once or twice to follow Mathieu, but it was certainly a lot better than a few weeks ago," the satisfied winner noted.

"That's what I do sports for, so it's nice to put those hands in the air," Van Aert said. "Especially after a race like today, where all kinds of things happened, and it was important to keep a cool head. But I feel more happiness with the legs than the victory itself, although of course that is always nice. It was the same way in Zolder and Essen. But now I could go deep, take part in the race, and give Mathieu a match, which I hadn't managed to do this winter. I am especially happy with that."

"It started off poorly because I found myself a bit side by side on the second row at the beginning. I lost my balance a bit and ended up quite far back. However, I then noticed Mathieu standing still, and Tom Pidcock was also near me, so I tried to move up without really exerting myself," Van Aert said. "After about three laps, we could start racing, and Mathieu made a very strong impression, but I was able to respond to his attacks. That was nice. Of course, it's a pity that we couldn't have a real battle after Mathieu's fall, but it was also very quick to switch gears to secure that victory."

However, it still became exciting. "That fall? It was a bit of clumsiness, as we say. I thought I was being smart by not jumping over it, but I underestimated the surface, and my bike bounced when I tried to jump back up. What happened next, I don't know either. Suddenly, I saw my saddle and glasses flying; those last minutes felt like hours of my life."

"A super stupid action on my part. I didn't want to take any more risks by jumping over the bars, but I still made a mistake. I got away well, and the last few hundred meters without a saddle just barely worked out. I collided with my saddle, causing me to fall. That's where my saddle must have broken off," he laughed afterwards.