Mathieu van der Poel has won the E3 Saxo Classic for the third year in a row — but this time it nearly went badly wrong. The Dutchman launched a solo attack with 64 kilometres still to race and spent most of that time alone at the front, only to find himself on the limit in the final kilometre as a four-man chase group closed to within touching distance.
The race was decided not by Van der Poel holding them off but by a moment of hesitation in the chasing group. Florian Vermeersch arrived at the red kite close enough to catch him, but chose that moment to look for his companions to pull through. No one came. The brief pause was all Van der Poel needed to hold on, crossing the line exhausted but victorious.
Van der Poel had attacked on the Boigneberg after following a move by Tim van Dijke, finding himself alone at the front far earlier than planned. He hunted down the early breakaway and then simply kept going, grinding out kilometre after kilometre on his own across the Flemish cobbles with the peloton slowly organising behind him.
“I thought I could make it but with 5km to go it nearly went wrong,” Van der Poel admitted after the finish. “Especially with a bit more than one kilometre to go, the legs were just not really turning well anymore.”
The final podium:
- Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech)
- Per Strand Hagenes (Team Visma | Lease a Bike)
- Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
Pogačar, Van Aert and Pidcock were all absent today — which makes the result even more significant as a Tour of Flanders preview. Van der Poel is clearly in the form of his life, and next Sunday’s Ronde shapes up as one of the great Classics showdowns in years — the three-time winner against the defending champion Pogačar, who has already won two Monuments this spring.