Wout Van Art recalled the intensity of his battle with Tom Pidcock and Mathieu Van Der Pol in Wednesday night's Superprestige Deegem as "not healthy." Pidcock, who finished second to the Belgian, politely disagreed. [Honestly, I think it was the easiest race of the last three days," Pidcock told Sporza (open in new tab). "On the climbs, we just did a couple of full laps. The uphill was a headwind, so we were looking at each other when we were together. It's just a shame we didn't make it through."

Pidcock finished third behind Van der Pol in the Gabelle World Cup on December 26.

The world champion looked as if he was back in his element late Wednesday night in Diegem, a race that was scheduled to avoid the broadcast time slot with the Flanders soap opera "Thuis."

Ineos Grenadiers' Pidcock pulled away from Van der Pol entering the final lap and pushed Van Aert all the way to the finish. Pidcock and Van Art swapped the lead, but Pidcock lost the advantage before the final step and had to settle for second place, six seconds behind.

"When I passed him at the end I was a little pleased," VanArt said. 'I thought I had the lead on the last step, but Wout passed me before the last bridge. At that point, there was no way I could beat him. He ran up the stairs and jumped on his bike before I could look up."

Pidcock said she was happy with how she navigated the sand at Diegem and said she decided on her line after watching the women's race.

"I think I rode the sand well today," he said.

"We'll have to see what (coach) Kurt Bogarts says. Maybe it will be motor pace. But there's a new sauna, and it's going to be a good one."