The Dutch rider headed into the race as the clear favourite following his back-to-back wins in 2017 and 2018 on the sandy course in Belgium.

His hopes of a hat-trick of victorious appeared under threat on the first lap when van der Poel was delayed by a crash.

The world champion responded impressively to rejoin the lead group by the end of the lap.

Van der Poel then pulled clear of his rivals with a blistering attack on the second lap and remained solo until the finish.

He completed the eight laps in a time of 59min 58sec, with Belgium’s Laurens Sweeck crossing as the runner-up at 25 seconds down.

Belgium’s Toon Aerts completed the podium by finishing in 60:33.

Eli Iserbyt remains the overall World Cup leader, despite the Belgian finishing in 13th place.

He heads the standings on 348 points from five events, with Aerts second on 330.

The Netherlands’ Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado claimed her first World Cup victory by triumphing in the women’s elite race in a time of 47:09.

She finished narrowly clear of her compatriots Lucinda Brand and Yara Kastelijn, who finished six and eight seconds behind the winner respectively.

Czech Republic’s Kateřina Nash remains the overall World Cup leader on 268 points, with Britain’s Anna Kay moving up to second place on 228.

Kay also leads the women’s under-23 standings.

The men’s under-23 race was won by Belgium’s Niels Vandeputte in a time of 47:57.

His team-mate Jelle Camps ended eight seconds off the pace as the runner-up, with The Netherlands’ Ryan Kamp third in 48:26.

Belgium boasted the top five in the men’s junior event, with three seconds separating their riders.

Thibau Nys won the event in 43:04, followed by Ward Huybs and Lennert Belmans in 43:06 and 43:07.