It may have been unexpected for him, but Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) once again showed himself as the man for the big occasion at the E3 Saxo Classic as he surged away from the field on the Paterberg.
His timing was perfect after he had softened the field up enough to blast away solo, but also in that it was just as long-term rival Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) crashed at the foot of the climb and saw the rainbow jersey disappear into the distance.
Van der Poel was unaware of the Belgian’s fate as continued his assault on the narrow gutter that lines the berg’s edge, knowing there was ‘no way back’ once he was alone at the crest with Van Aert giving his resilient all to salvage the victory behind.
Van Aert would come close, within 11 seconds to be exact, but as has been for the majority of their careers be that in one-day races on the road or the cross-field, Van der Poel would come out on top.
“I didn’t know somebody crashed actually, I was already attacking at that point because if you have the gutter it is way easier to make a difference on the Paterberg than when there are fences on it,” said van der Poel in his post-race press conference.
“So I knew that was a crucial point and also the hardest one of the race in combination with the Oude Kwaremont. So I wanted to attack but when I was on top alone a bit further they told me that Van Aert crashed and that I had 20 seconds, so there was no way back.”
Van der Poel rode the last 44km solo, surpassing Fabian Cancellara’s former record of a 35km solo effort in 2013. With the Visma-Lease a Bike making an impression on the flat, Van der Poel delivered one killing blow on the Karnemelkbeekstraat and his advantage would only grow to 1:31 when he saluted across the line in Harelbeke.
“It was really far actually and the roads were not really nice to be alone on with the wind. Wout came back really strong, I thought he was going to close the gap as well but I managed to hold him off,” Van der Poel said.
“For me, I was doing quite high numbers already the whole time so I knew he must be on the limit as well. So I tried to crack him on the Karnemelkbeekstraat.
“That’s also what happened I think. He was on the limit and of course, he had nothing to lose at that point as his finish was at my wheel let’s say, so I knew he was doing everything to get there.”
Van der…
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