The famous Mühl and Vosberg combination, located east of Gerardsbergen, has produced countless champions in Flanders, with the Tour de Flanders and, for the past five years, Omloop Het Niusbrod.

Jumbo-Visma superstar Wout Van Aert made his mark on Flanders' one-two punch history on Saturday afternoon.

The victory, his 31st of his road career and first in his 2022 season debut, was far from a solo display of strength. Rather, it was the collective strength of the newly strengthened Jumbo Visma team that helped Van Aert achieve glory at Ninove's Centrum Run.

After the finish, which took nearly five hours over the bergs and cobblestones of Flanders, Van Aert praised the efforts of his teammates, including newcomers Tiesj Benoot and Tosh van der Sande.

"We were able to keep control of the race for a long time. 'It takes a lot of energy to stay in the best position at all times with so many racers. It's a luxury to have a guy like Teessi [Benoot] in the lead group in the final."

"Everyone did a great job. I think today has given me and everyone a lot of confidence."

Wout Van Aert's confidence, even greater than his level as he held off the chase group alone for 13km, will only worry his rivals for the rest of the spring season.

But one look at how he and his teammates ran on Sunday will show that they have more to worry about than van Aert, who has relied on the support of Classics in the past. In the finale, it looked as if Benoot was the solo winner as he attacked in front of Mule and crossed the finish line at the front.

"Suddenly the gap to Mule opened up," Benoot said. Wout was in the lead group behind me, which was a good situation for us. They closed the gap before Vosberg. I should have been in that group."

The 27-year-old Benoot was caught by Van Aert and a select group with a few kilometers to go before the team leader made his move. Benoot's final position of 67th told onlookers nothing about the work he had done in the preceding 204 km.

"Teasge and I picked up the pace in Berendreth and went on the offensive," said Benoot. 'After that it was important to attack to stay in control.'

"My attack was purely to get a few meters ahead of the rest before Vossberg. The plan was to ride to the top and then figure out what to do. When I realized I was alone, I just had to keep going."

"What Wout did was especially smart," Benoot added. He could have waited for the sprint. He could have waited for the sprint. Victor Campenaerts tried to break away, so I saw that and attacked. Everyone in the back group was at their limits. No one could close the gap."

As has been the case from 2018-2020, Van Aert will not participate in the second half of the opening weekend, Sunday's Couleurs Brussel-Coulomb. Instead, after a week of race rest, he will take on Paris-Nice with Jumbo Visma's stage racing team (including Primosz Roglic, Steven Kruijswijk, and Rohan Dennis).

He will return to the cobbles starting with Milan-San Remo, followed by the Tour de Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Although the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix are still less than two months away, Van Aat said he hopes to continue improving toward his big goal this spring.

"I didn't expect it to go so well beforehand, but I was well prepared. [It's a nice bonus. I don't know if I can keep this up until Paris-Roubaix. In terms of pure race intensity, there will be a few more steps to go. But Flanders and Roubaix are more important, so I hope to improve a bit more."

"In Paris-Nice we want to take the last step. Primoš (Roglic) is in good shape and wants to win. I want to help him."