Mathieu van der Poel beaten!
in a two-man sprint, the Dutch phenomenon, the outgoing winner, was beaten by the Danish Kasper Asgreen who won the Tour of Flanders on Sunday in Oudenaarde after 254 kilometers.
The 26-year-old Asgreen (Deceuninck) scored the biggest victory of his career, his second of the season after E3 Classic last week.
The Danish champion was second in the Tour of Flanders in his first participation in 2019, behind the Italian Alberto Bettiol.
The Belgian Greg van Avermaet took third place in this race behind closed doors, in the absence of spectators gathered on the side of the roads because of the pandemic.
The race ended 26 kilometers from the finish with an attack from Asgreen, chased by van Aert and van der Poel in the group of seven riders which still included his teammate, world champion Julian Alphilippe. Asgreen's formation hardened the pace from Molenberg a hundred kilometers from the finish and brought the peloton closer to the morning break of seven riders who had counted up to almost 13 minutes in advance.
A fall then caused a stack of runners and delayed several contenders (Alaphilippe, Asgreen, Kristoff, Matthews) before the second of the three climbs of Vieux Quaremont.
Alaphilippe attacks without success
Alaphilippe went on the offensive in the Koppenberg, at the entrance of the last 50 kilometers, to join the last survivor of the breakaway, the Swiss Stefan Bissegger.
The duo were joined by a group (van der Poel, Pidcock, Laporte, Turgis, Wellens, van Aert, Haller) before a regroup and the anticipation of the Austrian Marco Haller in the Taaienberg.
In this severe climb, van der Poel caused the formation of a group of six riders (with Alaphilippe, Asgreen, van Aert, Haller, Teuns) who were joined by the only Anthony Turgis, who left in counterattack at the threshold of the Last 30 kilometers.
Before Asgreen's decisive attack.
In the final, van der Poel attacked violently in the third ascent of Quaremont and left van Aert behind.
With a lot of effort, Asgreen managed to get back in his wake 10 miles from the line and the duo headed for the finish to battle for victory.
“I felt very good in the last kilometers, I decided to give it a try.
At the end, I kept Mathieu in front of me, I knew we had a sufficient lead, I wanted to be in his wheel, ”explained the Dane, the second rider from his country to appear on the prize list after Rolf Sorensen in 1997.
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