Yves Lampaert cycles home with panniers on his bike after winning Belgian time trial title
The Deceuninck - Quick-Step rider became national champion in the discipline for the second time
Could Yves Lampaert be any more Belgian?
Just hours are being crowned the fast man in his country against the clock, the 30-year-old then hopped back on his bike once again to cycle home.
Not on his time trial bike or his road machine though, but instead aboard a no-fuss town bike strapped with two panniers on each side.
A video posted on Instagram shows the Deceuninck - Quick-Step rider casually cycling home with absolutely zero intention to repeat the 50.3kmh average speed he delivered earlier in the day.
Lampaert does seem to have his victory on his mind, however, and at point takes both hands off the handlebars and stretches them out wide in what we want to believe is a victory salute.
Not that there's a single soul on the street to see it, expect the car behind him.
Una publicación compartida de Linde Merckpoel (@lindemerckpoel)
A photo posted by on
The triumph for Lampaerts came just six days after he was beaten into second place in the time trial at the Belgium Tour by his team-mate Remco Evenepoel.
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This time round and Lampaerts beat Evenepoel by 20 seconds, sharpening his claims for selection in the upcoming Olympics, where Evenepoel has stated his desire to win gold in the time trial.
If Lampaerts is to be selected he would also have to fend off competition from Wout van Aert, the winner of the time trial championships in 2019 and 2020 but absent from the 2021 staging.
Nevertheless, Lampaerts can reflect on a positive first half of the season that includes a further six top-10 finishes, including third at the recent Dwars door het Hageland.
His victory on Wednesday was the 28th of the season for Deceuninck - Quick-Step, and he became the 11th rider from the team to score a win in 2021. It was also his first victory in a time trial since the 2019 Tour de Suisse.
The men's and women's road race champions of Belgium will be confirmed this weekend as National Championships continue across Europe, with the exception of Great Britain that will stage their delayed event in October.
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A freelance sports journalist and p