Mats Pedersen (Trek Segafredo) scored a thrilling victory in Ghent-Wevelgem on Sunday afternoon. Above all, the 24-year-old former world champion proved that he is more than just a one-hit wonder.

"I wanted to show that," Pedersen said in the Wevelgem mixed zone after the race. It means a lot to me to win here. It means a lot to me to win here." [I had a good run in Flanders two years ago and now I've proven that I'm one of the guys who can win the classics. I'm really happy. I also wanted to prove that winning the World Championships was not a "fluke."

"It means a lot to me to be able to show that I am not a rider who only gets good results once in a while. It was hard to watch the World Championships. I was world champion, but I wasn't there to protect the jersey. It's a little bit painful, but it's okay because this jersey looks good on Alaphilippe," Pedersen said.

Last year at the World Championships road race in Harrogate, Pedersen stunned the cycling world by beating Matteo Trentin, who was thought to be faster in the sprint. As it turned out, Pedersen was best suited to inclement weather.

In Wevelgem, Trentin joined a three-man lead group with Alberto Bettiol (EF Education First) and Florian Senechal (Deceuninck-Quick Step).

Just before the last kilometer, Pedersen jumped out of the group that included favorites Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Mathieu Van Der Pol (Alpecin Phoenix) to bridge to the lead group. Ultimately, he easily snatched victory from Seneschal, Trentin, and Bettiol.

"Trentin said it was going to be a nightmare," Pedersen laughed. In fact, my sprint was just as bad at the end as it was at the beginning. Luckily, these bike races are five hours long.

"It rained for 20 minutes and then it didn't rain for 20 minutes. The weather was changing so much. I had to put on and take off my clothes, which required a lot of energy. To my way of thinking, you have to accept the weather. Then put on warm clothes and take a warm shower," Pedersen said. Add to that mentality a strong sprint, and you have the ideal combination for bad weather in a one-day race.

When Pedersen sprinted off in the final kilometers toward Trentin, Alberto Bettiol (EF Education First) and Florian Senechal (Detunink-Quick Step) did not react to the move. Pedersen explained that it was a gamble.

"I tried to run a little smarter than usual. It was a split-second decision. The group I was in started to slow down. My beautiful old white bike had an 'all or nothing' sticker on it. I had enough tanks to bridge across. If I didn't try, I would be out of the top three anyway. At least I tried. This time it paid off, but maybe next time it will bite me in the ass."

Pedersen benefited from the rivalry between Van Aert and Van der Pol, who were the pre-race favorites to win. 'They are two strong guys and nobody wants to let them go. Of course, they see a little more of each other. When Stefan Küng attacked, you knew we couldn't let him go. Everyone agreed to take him back. The same goes for those two. As I said before, if they see each other more than the others, it's a good situation for us. We saw the rivalry in the last 10 kilometers. When Mathieu closed the gap to Wout, that's when I really felt it.

"On the other hand, I was racing my race, trying to conserve as much energy as possible, and watching what the other guys did," Pedersen said. He was impressed by their performance on the third (and final) ascent of the Kemelberg and described his feelings as Van Aert and Van der Pol raced past him at breakneck speed. 'Go deep. I joked. 'But I don't think we'll make a difference on the climb here. There will be a bigger gap on the summit. It was nice to have a little gap before Kemmel. I could have controlled the pace on the climb a lot easier."

With his victory in Ghent-Wevelgem on Sunday, Pedersen will certainly be considered one of the favorites to win next week's Tour de Flanders." With a result like this, maybe I will be considered one of the favourites, but that is up to the journalists, not up to me. This victory gives me even more motivation. The whole team did a great job. I talked a lot with the team before the Classic. We decided to approach every race as if it were the last race of the season. You never know what will happen. Every day is all-in. Wednesday and Sunday will be the same."