Mathieu van der Poel won the Tour of Flanders for the third time, equaling the record for victories in the Belgian ‘Monument’ after confirming his status as sole favorite with an attack more than 40 kilometers from the finish line.
The several casualties caused by the serious fall that occurred on Wednesday in Via Flanders left the Dutch cyclist from Alpecin-Deceuninck as the clear favorite to triumph at the end of the 270.8 kilometers between Antwerp and Oudenaarde and, today, the long-distance world champion is not he disappointed, isolating himself 45 kilometers from the finish line, which he cut with a time of 06:05.17 hours.
Van der Poel thus won the Belgian classic for the third time – he also won in 2020 and 2022 -, equaling the ‘locals’ Achiel Buysse (1940, 1941, 1943), Eric Leman (1970, 1972, 1973), Johan Museeuw (1993, 1995, 1998) and Tom Boonen (2005, 2006, 2012), the Italian Fiorenzo Magni (1949-1951) and the Swiss Fabian Cancellara (2010, 2013, 2014), record holders for triumphs in the competition.
“Winning in Flanders as world champion is very special. It’s something I have to assimilate”, summarized the winner, who considered this edition to be the toughest he has competed in, due to the weather conditions: “It was a test of survival. […] In the last 20 kilometers, I suffered a lot and reached the finish line with my eyes closed. I was so exhausted that I didn’t think much.”
The day that ‘MVDP’, aged 29, added the fifth ‘Monument’ to his list was also the day that young Portuguese António Morgado (UAE Emirates) entered the ‘top 10’ for the first time in one of the five most emblematic classics of the cycling, being ranked fifth, 01.02 minutes behind the winner, and achieving the best result ever by a national cyclist in the Tour of Flanders.
The 20-year-old Portuguese driver, making his debut in the Flemish race and in ‘Monuments’, reached the finish line in the group that discussed the podium, with Italian Luca Mozzato (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) getting the better of Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) in the fight for second place — the Australian would be disqualified for an irregular sprint, with German Nils Politt (UAE Emirates) being promoted to third.
In a ‘Ronde’ with a declared winner, the escape took a long time to form, not because of a lack of attempts, like those made by the restless Morgado, but because of an excess of them. Eight ‘anonymous’ people finally managed to leave when more than 40 of the 270.8 kilometers between Antwerp and Oudenaarde had already passed.
Bert Van Lerberghe (Soudal Quick-Step), Luke Durbridge and Elmar Reinders (Jayco AlUla), David Dekker (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Damien Touzé (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Cofidis), Lionel Taminiaux (Lotto Dstny) and Jelle Vermoote (Bingoal WB) built an advantage of close to four minutes, controlled from the peloton by the men from Alpecin-Deceuninck.
More than 100 kilometers from the finish line, however, ‘skirmishes’ between the candidates began, with Matteo Jorgenson, promoted to leader of Visma-Lease a Bike after his victory in Through Flanders and the ‘falling out’ of the unlucky Wout van Aert , opening hostilities, and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) following him, in moves whose objective was to wear down the teammates of the sole favorite Van der Poel.
When there were exactly a hundred kilometers left to go, the Danish driver from Lidl-Trek accelerated brutally, further selecting the group of candidates, at a time when the fugitives only had a minute’s advantage, and he did it again two dozen kilometers further, this time in the company of Gianni Vermeersch (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
The two even managed to isolate themselves at the front of the race, with around 30 seconds of advantage, but as soon as ‘MVDP’ accelerated at Kwaremont, the 2019 long-distance world champion’s adventure was over.
The winner was ‘announced’ even before the start of the Tour of Flanders and, with no competition to match, Van der Poel confirmed that the predictions were not exaggerated: 45 kilometers away, at Koppenberg, he took off and never stopped on his way to victory.
Jorgenson still tried to keep up with the Dutchman from Alpecin-Deceuninck, but, despite the dazzling and unexpected leap in quality in the classics, the North American, 31st at the end, realized today that he is still ‘light years’ away from the rainbow jersey. Iris, who is in a world of his own in the fight for ‘Monuments’ — already has five on his CV, the same as Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, as he also won Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo last year.
Today’s triumph makes ‘MVDP’ even more of a favorite to revalidate the title in Roubaix, with the most emblematic of all classics scheduled for next Sunday.
2024-03-31 16:01:15
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