Wout van Aert claimed his first E3 Saxo Bank Classic victory today ©Getty Images

Belgian rider Wout van Aert praised his team at Jumbo-Visma after winning the E3 Saxo Bank Classic race on home soil in Harelbeke, crossing the line arm-in-arm with team-mate Christophe Laporte of France.

The pair crossed the line in 4 hours 38min 04sec after making an attack over the Paterberg with 40 kilometres of the 203.9km route to go.

Van Aert headed into the race as one of the favourites and duly delivered when he made the break with Laporte, who initially struggled to stay with his partner but eventually pulled out a gap of 1min 35sec at the line, with Swiss rider Stefan Küng of Groupama-FDJ placing third after sprinting from the chasing pack in the final moments.

Wout van Aert crossing the line with Christophe Laporte together ©Getty Images
Wout van Aert crossing the line with Christophe Laporte together ©Getty Images

"The team was impressive, I have to thank every single one of the guys for setting us up in the final," said Van Aert after the race.

"Me and Christophe were supposed to be more defensive until the Paterberg and from then on we were together in front. 

"Also a big thank you to Christophe to give me this victory. 

"It means so much to win this big Classic in Flanders and I'm really proud of my team."

Slovenian Matej Mohoric of Bahrain Victorious and Eritrea's Biniam Girmay from Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux completed the top five.