Mathieu van der Pol narrowly failed to defend his Brabantspijl title on Wednesday, losing to world champion Julien Alaphilippe in a three-man sprint contest in Ovalaise.

The leader of the Alpecin Phoenix was clearly the strongest of the race, along with Alaphilippe, as they jumped out of the peloton several times on the hills that characterize this race.

They were apart again in the final, along with Benoit Cosnefrois of AG2R La Mondiale, who was in good form after the Tour de France.

In the end, Van der Pol lost by less than half a lap, as Alaphilippe celebrated his blunder in Liege-Bastogne-Liege before the finish. After the race, Van der Pol admitted his mistake in the sprint finish.

He moved ahead of the leading trio with 700 meters to go on the final hill in Chavay, but the Frenchman took the inside line on the final turn, allowing Kosnefroi to jump 200 meters ahead of him. With 200m to go, however, he allowed Kosnefroi to get ahead of him and Alaphilippe jumped to the inside on the final turn.

"I made a mistake I usually never make," van der Pol told Het Newsblad after the finish. "I knew what I had to do because I knew how I finished last year. When Alaphilippe passed me, I knew I had waited too long."

"It was a half-wheel between him and Kosnefroi. I just waited too long. I could have hit my own head

"I was going to sprint for the fence, just like Kosnefroy.

With Warren Barguil in fifth place, Van der Pol, who extended his European Tour lead over Arkea Samsic to another 65 points, admitted that more chances for victory would come before the end of the season, but said he would not sleep on this result

"I'm going to have to go out there and try to win.

"I can't forgive myself for messing this up. The next race is coming up soon, but I can't think about that right now. I wanted to win here. I can't sleep very well after this."

Van der Pol's next race is Ghent-Wevelgem on Sunday, followed a week later by a return to the Tour of Flanders and then his Paris-Roubaix debut. A top finish in the cobbled classic race would earn him and his team a ticket to next season's World Tour races, including the Tour de France.