Mathieu van der Poel wins Tour of Flanders

Image 1 of 35

In a finish for the ages, the duel that we all wanted to see saw Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) outsprint Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) by the narrowest of margins to win the Tour of Flanders.

The two favourites and long-time rivals were out on their own for the closing 35 kilometres after world champion Julian Alaphilippe (Elegant-QuickStep) crashed out of their three-man break, matching each other over the final climbs. Coming into the final kilometre, Van Aert stopped coming through and sat on Van der Poel’s wheel. The pair slowed, Van der Poel staying close to the right-hand barrier, ensuring that his Belgian opponent would have to jump to the left when he made his move.

Van Aert waited for his moment. With 200 metres to the line, the Jumbo-Visma rider accelerated to the Dutchman’s left, the pair sprinting side by side all the way to the line, Van der Poel’s bike throw just giving him the edge. Moments later, Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) led in the 15-rider group behind to take third place.

“I have no words for this. I am speechless,” said Van der Poel. “I wasn’t sure – normally I always feel [who won], but I was so broken in the sprint. All of a sudden the line was there and I had to jump. I looked at Wout’s wheel, but neither of us knew. 

“I was looking behind me at Wout, not at the chasers,” the Dutch champion continued. “I knew that the later the sprint was started, the more it was to my advantage. The fact that Wout started late was a sign that he too was tired to death. I caught him perfectly, but he came alongside me. I was afraid I was too late with my jump. I didn’t dare cheer. They told me twice that I had won, but I asked for confirmation 10 times.”

Van der Poel, who was wearing race number 51, said that it had been pointed out to him that his father Adrie had been wearing the same number when he won Flanders in 1986. 

“It’s incredible. Maybe number 51 is something special. They told me about it, but I didn’t believe it,” he said.

How it unfolded

The pace was intense from the start in Antwerp, several attacks going and being chased down in the opening kilometres. Six riders then managed to break the elastic and go clear: Gregor Mühlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), Samuele Battistella (NTT Pro Cycling), Danny van Poppel (Circus-Wanty Gobert), Gijs Van Hoecke (CCC Team), Dimitri Peyskens (Bingoal-Wallonie Bruxelles) and Fabio Van Den Bossche (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise). Cofidis’s Julien Vermote chased behind them for a while but never bridged the gap.

The break’s lead reached a maximum of seven-and-a-half minutes at the halfway point, when the speed at the front of the peloton started to rise considerably. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NTT Pro Cycling) was the first to launch an attack from the bunch approaching the fourth climb of the day, the Eikenberg, with 108km remaining.

After the Norwegian had been reeled in, a small group containing Alexander Kristoff and Silvan Dillier (AG2R La Mondiale) clipped away off the front of bunch. But Elegant-QuickStep were quick to respond, Florian Sénéchal (Elegant-QuickStep) bringing them back into line as the break’s lead dwindled to less than three minutes with 77km to go.

Crossing the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg, the break, now reduced to just four riders, managed to hang on. But its advantage was a mere 10 seconds as they crested the latter, and they were swept up with 50km remaining.

The favourites were very evident at the front now, and Alaphilippe was the first to chance his arm, darting away with teammate Dries Devenyns and Ineos Grenadiers' Dylan van Baarle. AG2R duo Romain Bardet and Oliver Naesen and Lotto-Soudal’s John Degenkolb jumped across to them, but the peloton was quick to respond coming towards the climb of the Koppenberg.

Van Baarle and Bardet kept their sortie going on to the Koppenberg, where Anthony Turgis (Total Direct Energie) joined them, the Frenchman then pushing on alone. Towards the top of the climb, Alaphilippe accelerated across the gap to Turgis, seven riders giving chase, Van Aert and Van der Poel among them. Once more, though, the peloton responded and it all came back together on the cobbles of Marieborrestraat.

On the next climb, Steenbeekdries, Alaphilippe accelerated again. On the tricky cobbled descent away from it, he was joined by Van der Poel. Approaching the Taaienberg, with less than 40km remaining, Van Aert rode up to join the pair.

The trio began to collaborate and establish a useful gap. However, as they were passing an organisation motorbike that was on the right-hand side of the road, disaster struck Alaphilippe. Van Aert, at the front of the line, edged by the bike, Van der Poel had to swerve to miss it, while Alaphilippe, at the back, hit the motorcyclist with his shoulder, the impact catapulting his bike across the road and sending the Frenchman to the tarmac, where he lay, shouting with pain and anguish.

Despite the loss of the world champion from the front group, Van Aert and Van der Poel continued to pull away from what remained of the peloton behind. They shared the work going up the Oude Kwaremont for the third time and then up the Paterberg for the second, neither man making a concerted attempt to break clear, both happy to depend on their ability in the sprint. Like the rest of the course, this proved there was almost nothing between them, the margin so tight that only the photo finish could decipher it.