Mathieu van der Poel (Photo: © Roth&Roth / CV)
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took his third victory at the Ronde van Vlaanderen. The world champion broke away from the group of favorites on Koppenberg and won solo. Second place went to Luca Mozzato (Arkéa – B&B Hotels), third place went to Nils Politt (UAE).
Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) crossed the line in third place but was moved back because he left the driving line.
This is how the race went
From the start in Antwerp we drove fast and attacked. A small breakaway group formed with Jelle Vermoote (Bingoal WB), Lionel Taminiaux (Lotto Dstny), Elmar Reinders (Jayco AlUla), Luke Durbridge (Jayco AlUla), Damien Touzé (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Stanisław Aniołkowski (Cofidis), David Dekker (Arkéa – B&B Hotels) and Bert Van Lerberghe (Soudal Quick-Step).
Some drivers tried to jump forward, but they always followed suit. The lead of the breakaways only grew to several minutes after a few kilometers. Mathieu van der Poel’s team controlled. When we entered the Oude Kwaremont for the first time with around 135 kilometers to go, the front runner was just under four minutes ahead of the field.
Counterattacks from the field
About 114 kilometers from the end – just before the Holleweg – the first attack came from the field. Jonas Abrahamsen attacked and Axel Laurance went with him. A little later, at Wolvenberg, Visma pressed | Lease a Bike picked up the pace and closed the gap to the counterattack. Mads Pedersen attacked, but the reaction was immediate. The breakaway’s lead quickly disappeared and the field broke up into several groups.
At Molenberg, Lidl-Trek went on the offensive – Mads Pedersen attacked again. Van der Poel followed up with Jorgenson. A small group broke up with a few favorites. Then the pace was slowed down again, but then they attacked again.
A strong group broke away around Van Baarle, Benoot, Pedersen, Rex, Politt, Van Moer, Turner, Naesen and other drivers. They caught up with the leaders. Alpecin-Deceuninck set the pace in the pursuit. At Valkenberg, a few kilometers later, Van der Poel caught up with the front with an attack from the field. There Pedersen then broke away with Vermeersch on the rear wheel.
Pedersen and Vermeersch held their own at the front, behind them they repeatedly attacked and pursued. Co-favorite Stefan Küng was also involved in a fall in the field. He lost a lot of time and tried to get back into the field of favorites.
On the second climb to the Oude Kwaremont (55 km from the end), Lazkano set the pace and closed the gap to Pedersen and Vermeersch. Then Van der Poel took the lead. A small group formed with Van der Poel, Wellens, Lazkanao, Teuns, Pithie and Pedersen. But the pursuers caught up again.
Preliminary decision at Koppenberg
After the Paterberg, Ivan Cortina broke away and went into the Koppenberg with a few seconds lead. However, he had technical problems there and had to be relegated. Mathieu van der Poel passed, followed by Matteo Jorgenson. Mads Pedersen followed a few seconds behind. Behind them, many riders had to get off and push their bikes on the wet and slippery pavement.
Van der Poel gradually increased his lead. Behind them a group formed with Jorgenson, Bettiol, Cortina, Wellens, Teuns, Rex and Pedersen.
On the climb to Hotond – around 27 km from the end – the chasing group fell apart. Teuns and Bettiol broke away. Both worked well together. At the foot of the last ascent to Paterberg they still had about 20 seconds ahead of the next 10 pursuers. At the top of the slope, the first pursuers had almost caught up.
The group fell apart on the climb, Naesen, Matthews, Sheffield were the next pursuers at the top. The rest of the group was then able to catch up again, while Teuns and Bettiol were able to keep their lead at around 15 seconds for a long time.
At the end of the home straight, the pursuers were up and Mozzato and Matthews initially came second and third in the sprint, more than a minute after Mathieu van der Poel. Due to an impairment in the sprint, Michael Matthews was then distanced, so that Nils Politt came third.
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2024-03-31 19:23:14
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