Mathieu van der Poel beats Tiesj Benoot in two-up sprint at Dwars door Vlaanderen

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Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Fenix won Dwars door Vlaanderen after a select group of eight riders attacked each other in the final kilometres in a battle of race tactics and raw attacking power.

The Dutchman missed several late attacks but produced a final, decisive surge to join Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo-Visma) with 1.5km to go and then blew his Belgian rival off his wheel with a long sprint to the line.

Benoot took second, with Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) third and Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal). Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers) were also in the move that went away over the Berg Ten Houte and Kanarieberg climbs with 70km to race. Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Kelland O'Brien (BikeExchange-Jayco) were in the early break but managed to finish with the attackers but were unable to match Van der Poel in the final kilometre.

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) missed the decisive attack, claiming he was slowed by a crash. He tried to chase with a solo attack but eventually eased up and drove along the chase group. They kept the gap to below a minute for the final 50km but were unable to catch the eight riders left out front.

Pogačar looked strong and comfortable on the rough, often cobbled roads of Flanders but surely learnt a valuable lesson about Classics racing before the Tour of Flanders.

Van der Poel sat on the road as he tried to recover from his huge effort, drinking water to try to calm a cough, but clearly happy to have won in his first Belgian race of the spring after only recently returning to action following his back problems.

"I went pretty deep. I felt good but for sure not the strongest in the leading group,” he admitted.

“I had to close the gap a few times and it really hurt, but I think I rode a perfect final. I already saw that Tiesj was really strong and he deserves to be second as well.

"We went away on Berg Ten Houte and the cooperation was really good. We were all really strong guys and it was almost impossible to catch us.”

Van der Poel’s second victory in four years at Dwars door Vlaanderen makes him an automatic favourite for the Tour of Flanders.

“That’s a different race, especially because of the distance,” he warned. “I was good today, but not great. I hope to have a good rest in the coming days. That will be necessary to follow the best on Sunday.”

How it unfolded

Dwars door Vlaanderen is the final race before the Tour of Flanders and while Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and few other contenders opted out to skip the race to rest up for Sunday, the presence of Van der Poel, Pogačar and Pidcock was always going to inspire an aggressive, hard fought race.

There were five non-starters as illness and injury continued to force teams to shuffle their rosters and lower their expectations. Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious), Jenthe Biermans, Guillaume Boivin (Israel-Premier Tech), Jordi Warlop (B&B Hotels-KTM), Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X), all failed to start, leaving Israel-Premier Tech with just three riders in the race.

The 183km course is dotted with short Flemish climbs and cobbled sectors and the early break wisely used the flatter opening 50km to go clear and build a lead.

Johan Jacobs (Movistar), Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe), Kelland O'Brien (BikeExchange-Jayco), Mathijs Paasschens (Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces-WB), Aaron Verwilst (Sport Flanders-Baloise) jumped away after a fast opening 30 kilometres. The peloton soon let them gain 5:00 before Alpecin-Fenix, Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux and AG2R Citroën lead the chase.

Alpecin-Fenix clearly wanted a hard race for Van der Poel and to expose their rivals. They upped the pace in the peloton with 90km to go, inspiring others to join in.

A crash in the peloton raised the tension even further with Michael Gogl (Alpecin-Fenix), Alexys Brunel (UAE Team Emirates), Mick van Dijke (Jumbo-Visma), Florian Vermeersch (Lotto Soudal) all caught up. Later Imanol Erviti (Movistar), Alexander Edmondson (BikeExchange-Jayco), Oliver Naesen (AG2R Citroën), and Frederik Frison (Lotto Soudal) also crashed hard due to the speed and dangers of the narrow, twisting, often concrete roads of Flanders.

On the short but steep Berg Ten Houte climb with 70km to race, Turner and Pidcock combined to blow apart the peloton and force a selection. They clearly wanted to take control of the race rather than suffer the other team’s attacks.

Such was their speed and determination over the climb and the subsequent Kanarieberg, a select group got away and immediately began to work together. In the quality selection were Van der Poel, Turner, Pidcock), Benoot, Küng and  Campenaerts. Nobody shirked away from working on the front and they soon opened a 20-second gap on the peloton and began to close down the early attack

Pogačar was caught a few places back after being affected by a crash but suddenly set off in pursuit over the top of the Kanarieberg, sensing the attack of the day and the race was escaping him.

He managed to close the gap to just 10 seconds but even a Tour de France winner cannot always produce a Merckx-ian effort against eight strong and united riders. Pogačar was unable to get across to the move and was eventually convinced to ease up and wait for the chase group that had formed behind him.

He had two UAE Team Emirate teammates to help him and at least 30 other riders in the group. However the attackers extended their lead, sweeping up the early break with 48km to go after the Knokteberg climb.

The gap fell to just 25 seconds at one point but then the climbs and cobbled sectors allowed the attackers to impose their strength and expose the weaknesses of the chasers.

Pogačar tried several times to drag a small group clear with Tratnik and Madouas but only forced splits and convinced his rivals to sit on his wheel. His regret at missing the decisive move was stronger than his tactical sense.

Up front several riders from the early break were distanced but Politt and O'Brien managed to hang on, earning the right to sit on and hope for a result.

The eight riders still led by 40 seconds with 20km to race and that marked the start of the attacks for victory.

Van der Poel surged away on the Nokereberg but Turner chased him down, doing everything he could to favour Pidcock. Other attacks were exchanged but were chased down and the eight rode over the final Holstraat all together.

With just eight kilometres to go Campenaerts tucked into his sero position yet again and tried to skuttle clear, turning an 58-tooth chainring on a slight descent. He opened a gap on the rest and tried to time trial to the finish, forcing the other to go deep in pursuit.

Even Van der Poel seemed on the edge of defeat but then suddenly Benoot jumped across the gap, with Pidcock on his wheel. The race was suddenly wide open again, with nobody holding back. Benoot and Pidcock joined Campenaerts with five kilometres to go and then even Van der Poel joined them, with the rest in his slipstream.

Campenaerts made another try and Benoot went with him. Again Van der Poel and Pidcock closed, the Briton using his cornering skills to pull back precious metres.

With just 1.5km to go Benoot went solo again, knowing he had little chance in a sprint finish. He was strong and brave but not enough to distance Van der Peol, who was wise enough to share the work to ensure they reached the finishing straight alone.

From there Van der Poel knew what to do and started his sprint early and even distanced Benoot, who could only sit up, accept second and think about how close he was to victory. However the win went to Van der Poel, who confirmed he is back to his aggressive best and showing he is ready for Sunday’s Tour of Flanders showdown.