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Wout van Aert (front) and Mathieu van der Poel drive for victory, Julian Alaphilippe falls
Photo:
Luc Claessen / imago images / Panoramic International
The Dutch professional cyclist Mathieu van der Poel has won the prestigious Tour of Flanders.
In the duel of the top favorites, the 25-year-old defeated Belgian Wout van Aert in a millimeter decision.
The duo had pulled away early on the 243.3 kilometer route from Antwerp to Oudenaarde and agreed to win the last few meters.
At the finish, van der Poel cheered exuberantly: "I am speechless. I didn't know whether I had won. Usually I always know, but I was so exhausted," he said.
The Dutchman won the legendary "Ronde" 34 years after his father Adrie.
Alaphilippe falls
Road bike world champion Julian Alaphilippe was also part of the leading group, but crashed into a companion motorcycle 30 kilometers from the finish.
Alaphilippe doubled over on the floor for several minutes.
As his team announced after the end of the race, examinations in the hospital revealed fractures on Alaphilippes right hand.
"His season was over," it said.
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Julian Alaphilippe looks shocked at the companion motorcycle he crashed into
Photo: LUC CLAESSEN / AFP
For the Deceuninck-Quick Step team, it was the third bad accident since the restart of the season at the beginning of August.
During the Tour of Poland, the Dutchman Fabio Jakobsen sustained life-threatening head injuries, while the Tour of Lombardy, the Belgian Remco Evenepoel fell from a bridge and suffered a fractured pelvis.
After the cancellation of the classic Paris-Roubaix planned for next Sunday, the Tour of Flanders was the last monument of the season.
The "Ronde" was originally scheduled for April, but had to be relocated due to the corona pandemic.
As the best German, John Degenkolb crossed the finish line in ninth place.
Icon: The mirror
hba / dpa / sid
