Mathieu Van der Poel is back and has proven himself to be the king of Flanders, where he had already won two years ago.
On that occasion he struck the Belgian Wout Van Aert, this year sidelined by Covid-19, today he mocked the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, at the end of a sprint with Kafkaesque contours.
'The race', as the Tour of Flanders is simply called, seemed in fact an affair reserved only for those who would later win it and the double triumph of the last two Tour de France: Van der Poel, but above all Pogacar, were launched in a escape that seemed destined to end with the affirmation of one of the two contenders.
Instead, the final braking of the two - as if they were on the track of any velodrome,
between penetrating gazes and almost blocked bikes - he favored the desperate run-up of two other riders.
The Dutch Dylan Van Baarle and the French Valentin Madouas landed on Pogacar and Van der Poel who, at -250 meters, lost the advantage of about forty seconds, accumulated on the stones of the last two walls.
Moral: Van der Poel caught Madouas (third) and Van Baarle (second) early, Pogacar remained bottled among the three and, in the end, as a possible winner, he was thrown off the podium, finishing in fourth place.
Palpable, and visible given the gesture of anger he made, his disappointment at the finish line in Oudenaarde, after 272.5 kilometers of torment, hopes and ambitions.
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which had already given flashes of great cycling, thanks to the action of Pogacar and Van der Poel who, put to the rope on the short but terrible final jolts, did not lose an inch and, in the end, managed to hit the encore of the race that came to the 106th edition.
The double, first and second place, of the Dutch leaves a bad taste in the mouth especially to the Belgians, fasting since 2017: the last to triumph at the finish line of the Tour of Flanders was Philippe Gilbert, who is not a Flemish, but a Walloon .
Italy is also dry-mouthed, who in 2019 won with Alberto Bettiol, the same rider who showed up often today, but in the final he was not able to make an impact.
Matteo Trentin, on the other hand, limited himself to the role of cover for the leader of the UAE Emirates, Pogacar.
"
I thought I was fighting for the victory alone with Pogacar, who had pushed hard for several kilometers, but in the final both Madouas and Van Baarle managed to hang up - the words of the winner, son and grandson of art (his father Adrie was a champion, also winning Flanders, not to mention his grandfather Raymond Poulidor).
In the race Tadej was very strong on the Oude Kwaremont and on the Paterberg, he put me in difficulty and I risked breaking away.
I resisted and, if I reached this victory, in addition to my stubbornness, I have to thank many people.
I had a difficult winter, a very troubled one indeed.
It was a very tough race, perhaps Pogacar was the best: he would have deserved at least the podium. "
instead in the final both Madouas and Van Baarle managed to hang up - the words of the winner, son and grandson of art (his father Adrie was a champion, also winning Flanders, not to mention his grandfather Raymond Poulidor).
In the race Tadej was very strong on the Oude Kwaremont and on the Paterberg, he put me in difficulty and I risked breaking away.
I resisted and, if I reached this victory, in addition to my stubbornness, I have to thank many people.
I had a difficult winter, a very troubled one indeed.
It was a very tough race, perhaps Pogacar was the best: he would have deserved at least the podium. "
instead in the final both Madouas and Van Baarle managed to hang up - the words of the winner, son and grandson of art (his father Adrie was a champion, also winning Flanders, not to mention his grandfather Raymond Poulidor).
In the race Tadej was very strong on the Oude Kwaremont and on the Paterberg, he put me in difficulty and I risked breaking away.
I resisted and, if I reached this victory, in addition to my stubbornness, I have to thank many people.
I had a difficult winter, a very troubled one indeed.
It was a very tough race, perhaps Pogacar was the best: he would have deserved at least the podium. "
In the race Tadej was very strong on the Oude Kwaremont and on the Paterberg, he put me in difficulty and I risked breaking away.
I resisted and, if I reached this victory, in addition to my stubbornness, I have to thank many people.
I had a difficult winter, a very troubled one indeed.
It was a very tough race, perhaps Pogacar was the best: he would have deserved at least the podium. "
In the race Tadej was very strong on the Oude Kwaremont and on the Paterberg, he put me in difficulty and I risked breaking away.
I resisted and, if I reached this victory, in addition to my stubbornness, I have to thank many people.
I had a difficult winter, a very troubled one indeed.
It was a very tough race, perhaps Pogacar was the best: he would have deserved at least the podium. "