The cobbled Classics season officially got underway at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne this weekend, and given its traditional role as an indicator of the shape of things to come, there’s always plenty of room for interpretation and speculation.
Even before the riders stepped out into the arena at Ghent velodrome on Saturday morning for one of the most spectacular settings possible for a race presentation, Wout van Aert’s last-minute absence from Omloop was already making the headlines in Belgium. And so, too, was the not-quite-so-surprising addition of Mathieu van der Poel to the men’s line-up.
Mathieu van der Poel is already on course to fight against Tadej Pogačar
After winning every cyclo-cross race he took part in this winter, right up to his record-equalling World Championships, it seemed only logical that Mathieu van der Poel would be in top condition for the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
After all, had he not been confident of his chances or form on the cobbles this Saturday, he’d likely never have announced his late participation. Only one result counts when you are a stand-out favourite, and on Saturday Van der Poel was certainly that.
Yet at the same time, for all the sense of inevitability produced when Van der Poel opened up a gap of 20 seconds in no time at all on the Muur van Geraardsbergen and then disappeared from his rivals in a cloud of dust and smallish pebbles, riding a…
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