Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma) savored and celebrated his victory in Strade Bianche, recalling how he was returning home from the hospital a year ago after a major crash in a Tour de France time trial in which he suffered a serious muscle tear from contact with a roadside barrier.

He had worked hard all year to get back to his best and proved it with a late solo attack on the final section of dirt road a few kilometers from Siena.

His run up the steep Santa Catarina pass erased the pain of his 2018 cramps, and his winning descent to Piazza del Campo erased any bad memories.

"Winning means a lot. I'm happy to win because this season is special for everyone in so many ways, and this season is already a good one, not many riders can say that in 2020, and I'm happy to win because it means a lot to me.

"I've worked really hard for today and for the upcoming races. I didn't want to take any chances. I focused on this race and it paid off."

"It's been exactly one year since I came home after two weeks in the hospital, and if you told me what would happen a year from now I wouldn't believe you, but I kept the faith even when it was hard, so it's a great satisfaction after all the hard work.

Fanart accepted that he was slimmer and in his best ever form, as the Belgian noticed and emphasized a few days before Strade Bianche.

"I'm back in a position to focus on winning and doing my best," he said.

"I might say I'm at my best level ever.

Van Aert was undeterred when the race exploded on the dirt section of Monte Santa Maria with 50km to go and on the steep final climb of Le Torfe. He was glad he had been injured.

"Sport at the highest level is about dealing with pain better than your competitors. We all have pain. So the best thing to do is to not think about it and focus on what you have to do," he explained.

"Cyclocross is the same. Road races are much longer, but there is always pain. But when you haven't been in pain for a while, it's good to come back."