It’s typically only Tadej Pogačar who can make Mathieu van der Poel accept defeat in the toughest one-day races, but after 63 kilometres almost entirely on his own in front at the E3 Saxo Classic on Friday and with a four-man chase group bearing down on him, the Dutchman had all but given in as he started to run out of steam.
“I gave up, actually, because they were so close,” admitted Van der Poel during his winner’s press conference after narrowly holding on for the victory. “But then I thought, if I wait now and they come back and it’s a sprint, for sure, I’ll come last in the group because I was on the limit.
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At this point, though, the race looked as good as done – as it has been the past two years – and Van der Poel looked set for a dominant hat-trick at the 202km race that follows many of the same roads as the upcoming Tour of Flanders in just over a week’s time.
Even after his crash and defeat at Milan-San Remo, Van der Poel had seemingly removed any doubts over his finger injury – which was “annoying but not overly painful” almost a week on – and his form after getting dropped on the…
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