Toon Aerts surprised friend and foe during his comeback in Sint-Niklaas with an impressive fourth place. If Lars van der Haar had shown a little mercy, there would even have been a podium place.
In the final straight line it looked like Aerts was going to stunt with a third place, but on the finish line he was stopped in extremis by Lars van der Haar. “Maybe it’s for the best that I’m not on the podium right away,” Aerts said The newspapaer.
“Am I angry with Lars? Gosh, I would have loved to be on stage, I admit. And honestly, I didn’t expect him to reassemble me anymore. At one point during the race I even had the impression that he was waiting for me. When I passed Joran Wysesure in the last straight line, I had the wonderful prospect of the podium.”
“Until I noticed Lars in my slipstream. Little guy, hey. He was able to take full advantage, I couldn’t hold him off. Oh, how unhappy I am now about a missed podium. This exceeds my expectations.”
Lots of supporters
And whether he enjoyed himself. “The atmosphere was great. It felt like I was at the start of a championship, there were so many of them. Even during the warm-up I was encouraged as if I was in the race of my life.”
“I couldn’t stop smiling. Then you can cycle through the wall, right? Did it hurt? Yes, of course it hurt. But what does an hour of suffering mean when you’ve been sidelined for two years?”
