Mathieu van der Poel has explained that while he and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) were trying their best to make it to the finish ahead of the bunch at In Flanders Fields, his collaboration in the late breakaway move was always part of a bigger plan involving Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate and final winner Jasper Philipsen, too.
Van der Poel scorched away on the Kemmelberg from a small break, taking Van Aert with him, and the two made it all the way together to the streets of Wevelgem, 30 kilometres further on.
Their two-up move, even when boosted by Alec Segaert (Bahrain Victorious) in the final kilometres, was always going to be difficult. But as Van der Poel explained, he was also always thinking about Philipsen and the Belgian's super-fast sprint as the team's Plan B for the day.
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"I said quite quickly today on the radio, I didn't feel well recovered [from winning on Friday at E3 Saxo-Classic], so I think I did a defensive race, just following and doing what was necessary, not too much," Van der Poel said.
"I did my pulls in the front. I knew we had Jasper in the back; he had said he was still feeling good, so it was really nice for him to take the victory."
Van der Poel explained that reaching the finish would have been impossible alone, but going with a few riders, they could keep the pressure on the chasing group. As it worked out, longstanding arch-rival Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) was the one who came along with him, and the two began working hard.
"His radio wasn't working, he was just asking what the time gap was," Van der Poel said about their discussions on the 45-minute breakaway.
"We were both also keeping something for the sprint as well, if we had gone all out, not thinking about it, we could have made it to the finish - and without Jasper in the back, it would have been a different story."
"Like I said, we were in the same situation as two years ago, and we talked about it today and we made the right choice."
Looking ahead is Flanders and a chance to become the first rider ever to win the Tour of Flanders four times. Even if Van der Poel has yet to take one edition of In Flanders Fields, and after 2026 that remains the case, De Ronde remains an even bigger goal, although the presence of one Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) also has to be borne in mind.
"Like I said, I'm in good shape, I knew it would be difficult to be at 100 % after my effort on Friday, and next week it will be very difficult against Tadej," Van Der Poel concluded. "But I will try to be at my best."
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