Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) won a blistering night race at Diegem on Wednesday, when he exchanged the lead constantly with Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), before outgunning Pidcock at the finish.
However, the Belgian star has also said he has grown uncomfortable with the increasing levels of attention on him at home and abroad. It had become too much and he asked that people would leave him alone. He sounded especially ill at ease about fans coming to his house looking for him and he was becoming more "assertive" about declining their calls and requests.
"It happens every week that people just ring the doorbell. I prefer to be left alone at home," he told Belgian broadcaster Sporza. "I notice that the attention for me is increasing. I always think it couldn't get any worse, but then it turns out that it can."
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He said so many people had called to his home in Belgium he mostly no longer answered to callers, wondering if he said something in the media, maybe they would stop.
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"People just ring at my door. That is not necessary. The chance that I will open the door is minimal. It happens regularly that people are at my door, even on a weekly basis. They call with a special request: for a sweater signing or they organise something special.
"Everyone has their unique story and I understand that, but it is not always easy. I prefer to be left alone when I am at home. Usually I just don't open the door. Maybe you can write that, then maybe fewer people will come," he said, though laughed at that point.
He added while his profile had been high in Belgium for some time, he used to have less attention on him when he went abroad. But that was now changing, certainly in other parts of Europe.
"It still surprises me sometimes. I used to be known in cyclocross, but now it goes much wider outside Belgium," he said, adding it was still a "special sensation" to be recognised abroad, though it meant he was no longer "at ease" when he travelled.
"As a rider you learn that it is part of it, that much attention, and I try to deal with it in my own way and to remain friendly if possible, but I do notice that I have become much more assertive about it. I think I don't have to do something or if I think they're coming into my private sphere, I'm going to make that clear."
