Sean Kelly
“King Kelly”, the greatest Irish cyclist to have graced the peloton, brought the Emerald Isle to the fore alongside compatriot Stephen Roche in the 1980s. Points winner at the Tour de France four times, GC in the 1988 Vuelta, and a record-breaking seven consecutive wins at Paris-Nice feature during his glittering career – alongside double victories at Paris-Roubaix, Milan-San Remo and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
We’re into the thick of things as far as the spring Classics are concerned, and Flemish Holy Week is already delivering. Over the last few days, E3 Saxo Classic and the newly renamed In Flanders Field – what used to be Gent-Wevelgem – both proved that Mathieu van der Poel isn’t untouchable; you just have to play your cards right.
Before we get into Sunday’s action, let’s rewind to Friday and an almighty finale in E3. It was very nice to see that Van der Poel was catchable, not least because it made what would’ve otherwise been a textbook solo breakaway victory far more interesting. It’s hard to say whether he was racing at his best or whether his Milan-San Remo crash was still affecting him.
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The chase group of Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Per Strand Hagenes (Visma-Lease a Bike), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) and Stan Dewulf (Decathlon CMA CGM), who was the last survivor of the day’s early break, worked incredibly well together, up to a point.
All their hard work was undone with 1500m remaining, and it’s always the case. Who’s going to close the final few metres? Because the rider who closes the gap is going to throw their own chance of winning by doing the work to bridge across.
It would be interesting to understand what Van der Poel was thinking at this point because he went to sit up and throw in the towel, only for the guys behind to start playing the game and looking at each other. I reckon he got a shout from the team car: ‘OK, they’re looking at each other, just go all out for it now and see what happens.’
Or perhaps when he looked around, he could see them spread across the road, all four of them waiting for the other to do a final pull. It’s tricky in those situations because, regardless of how well the group works together…
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