The Quick-Step Floors rider finished on the podium for the fourth consecutive year.
Yves Lampaert rode to third on Thursday afternoon, when the Belgian ITT National Championships took place in Vichte, a small town in the Anzegem municipality, over a 14.4km course which the riders had to cover three times for a total of 43.4 kilometers.
Defending champion Yves Lampaert got off to a flying start, averaging an amazing 49.81km/h on the first 14 kilometers, a result that propelled the 27-year-old Belgian at the top of the provisional standings, 15 seconds clear of his closest opponents. The brisk start to the race, together with some health problems, eventually took their toll on Lampaert, who began to lose ground, before finishing the time trial in 53:03, 20 seconds down on Victor Campanaerts (Lotto-Soudal), the new holder of the title.
Yves was one of the two Quick-Step Floors riders to slot into the top 5 at the end of the demanding race, with 22-year-old Laurens De Plus – who rode just his third individual time trial of the season, after the ones in the Tour of California and the Critérium du Dauphiné – coming home in fourth place, after putting in an impressive display of strength that saw him catch his two-minute man in the closing kilometers.
"I was very motivated to retain the beautiful tricolour jersey, especially as there were many supporters on the road cheering for me, but it wasn't meant to be. Nevertheless, I can be happy with my third place, knowing I have a small cold coming back from the Tour de Suisse. This is not a real excuse, because my legs felt good, but not good enough to win. It's the fourth time I am on the podium, which is a nice performance, but I would have liked to be on the top spot", said the Dwars door Vlaanderen winner, who on Sunday will be part of a strong Quick-Step Floors contingent to line out for the road race.
Also on Thursday, but in the Czech Republic, Zdenek Stybar rode the 40.4km-long individual time trial held on an undulating circuit around Karlovy Vary, the famous spa city situated in Bohemia, and finished seventh the race won by Josef Cerny (Elkov-Author).
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele/ Getty Images
