Earlier this week, Viktor Kampenaerts issued a sort of determined and heroic statement before the opening weekend of the Cobbled Classics, outlining his own ambitions as a new contender in the Classics and the way his teammate Lot Soudal "shattered the race."

He lived up to his words after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, the first of a double header in Belgium this weekend.

Campenaerts ran an all-action race, even if much of it was plugging holes in the back of the pack. He stayed afloat, and indeed "floated," up Mühl van Geraalsbergen until the finish in Ninove, where he was in fifth place.

"I wouldn't have signed for a fifth place finish beforehand, but considering the race conditions, I'm happy with that," was his assessment.

A career time triallist, Campenaerts was well versed in the chaos of the cobblestones on Saturday afternoon.

His first puncture occurred on the cobblestone padestrato 85 km from the finish, but it was his second puncture that threw him off course and onto the ground. After the puncture, he braked at Hollweg with less than 60 km to go, but was unable to avoid the crash in front of him and rode up onto a pile.

He continued on and after a while managed to catch up, but his rear mechanical was damaged and he had to change bikes with 45 km to go. A few kilometers later, before the cobblestones of Hagehoek, he "too eagerly" tried to improve his position and got stuck, forcing him to stop again.

After half an hour of frantic riding, he was back in the bunch, and when Florian Vermeersch attacked with Stefan Kühn (Groupama-FDJ), he was given the first arm ride. He was unable to follow Jumbo Visma's attack on Berendries, but when a new lead group of 20 riders appeared over the mules with 16km to go, he joined them. He then jumped on a speculative attack by Oliver Naessen, and when that attack was released, Wout Van Aert made the winning move in Vosberg to extend his lead again.

Campenaerts, who initially followed only two riders, was forced to concede as they approached the cobbled climb. However, in his least favorite sprint, he was able to break away from the pack to take fifth place.

"When Wout started before Vosberg, I thought it was a bit too long. I tried to deal with it but soon realized it was impossible. I turned it on and waited for the group behind to not completely self-destruct," explained Kampenaerts.

"If I had gotten in front of Sonny Colbrelli at the last corner, I could have been on the podium. Well, I'm not a sprinter."

Speaking to Cycling News earlier in the week, Campenaerts was bold enough to say that he and his teammates take a collective, aggressive approach that is "good for cycling." Despite the fact that Tim Wellens, one of the pre-race favorites to win, did not start due to illness, he and Vermeer combined well and fulfilled their objective of "not defending."

"As a team, of course we would have liked a better result, but despite Wellens' absence, today's result was not bad. The atmosphere and the team spirit are good and I am convinced that more than a fifth place result awaits us," Kampenaerts said.

Vermeer, who had a big spring in his step after finishing runner-up in Paris-Roubaix last year, added, "It would have been more interesting if not only Kühn and Vliegen but other strong riders had made the leap with me. I would like to pay tribute to Viktor's legs today." He ran a spectacular race.

He suffered many setbacks, fired two bullets, and still finished fourth in a sprint from a group of 20 riders. He has spent the last few months holed up in a special "high altitude" hotel on the southeastern coast of Spain, training with laser-like focus for the spring and making a name for himself as a springtime mainstay.

"I knew I was in good shape, and in Mule, a good leg would automatically put me on top.

"My goal is to win the cobbled races and Paris-Roubaix is my last chance. The conditions are certainly there. So I will not be frustrated and will have a chance to win."