Victor Kampenaerts ended his two-year run with Lotto Soudal on the final stage of the Tour of Guangxi before moving to Team NTT (formerly Dimension Data) next season.

Reflecting on his final season with Lotto, the 27-year-old, who set a UCI Hour Record in April, said there were positive and negative aspects to his campaign, but lamented the bad luck that could affect his 2020 plans.

"The main goal, of course, was Hour Record. "After that I had a couple of second places and won the Tirreno Adriatico, the second goal was the World Championships, but with some bad luck it didn't work out."

After missing victory in the San Marino Time Trial at the Giro d'Italia due to mechanical problems late in the race, Campenaerts suffered a similar fate in Yorkshire, first crashing in the 54km test and then having to replace his bike due to mechanical problems. In the 54 km test, he first crashed and then had to replace his bike due to mechanical problems, finishing in 11th place, nearly 2 minutes behind winner Rohan Dennis.

While his Giro missteps are far enough in the past to keep them in the back of his mind, it is the world championships that still haunt Campenaerts.

"It was already six months ago," he said. The World Championships are more fresh in my mind. If it wasn't for the crash, I would have been on the podium, but I had a chain problem that stopped me from getting on the podium. That was even worse."

"I was in the same boat."

"I had a lot of trouble with the yoke.

The Yorkshire result could have even greater consequences. Under Belgian Olympic Committee rules, a top-eight finish at the World Championships or a top-five finish at the European Championships would qualify him for next year's time trial squad for the Tokyo Olympics.

Campenaerts opted to skip the latter race, which he won in 2017 and 2018, and after his misfortune at the World Championships, his place on Tokyo's two-man time trial team is up in the air. Lemko Evenpoel, on the other hand, is already assured of a spot thanks to his gold and silver medals at the Euros and World Championships.

A further complication for Campenaerts is that riders entered in the time trial are also obliged to become members of the five-man road race, and the mountainous course could favor the likes of Laurens De Plus and Wout Van Art.

"We can now choose a second time trialist," Belgian national coach Rick Verbrugghe told Cycling News after confirming the complexity of the selection criteria. 'It could be Campenaerts, and I don't know what will happen with Wout Van Aert next year. [But it is true that if you appoint a time trial specialist, you lose a road racer. Lemko can do both, but it will be difficult to decide who will be second."

"De Plus is another rider who can do both. But we will find out sooner or later. It's still a little early. It's difficult to combine the Tour de France and the Olympics, so the race plan is up to them, but I want to talk to all the riders."

"I'm not sure if they can do both.

Meanwhile, Campenaerts sees the time trial in the final race of the Tour de France as a major goal for 2020.

"If going to the Olympics doesn't work out, there are good options in the final time trial of the Tour de France. It's more or less the same course as the time trial I was supposed to win in the Giro this year, so it should be a good option."

But beyond race goals for next season, general improvement is also something to aim for. Kampenaerts said that with a little improvement and a little luck, he could taste victory in every time trial.

"Of course, I would like to be one percent better in the TTs, and then with some luck I think I can win every TT I start. To be selected for the Olympics I still have to be 100% sure, but that is my main goal."