I was looking forward to Omloop Het Nieuwsblad until Mathieu van der Poel announced he was riding. It’s always an interesting one, the first of the Classics, with a lot of question marks, and I was looking forward to a good race, an exciting race, and probably a race with a bit more suspense than the one we got. But unfortunately, when he announced he was riding on Thursday, I could not help but feel – like many of the riders no doubt – a little disappointed.
As it turned out, he made it look so, so easy. But don’t get me wrong, Van der Poel is still impressive to watch. He is phenomenal, not only physically but also technically. He’s just able to read the race so well, and his bike handling is excellent.
He showed that on the Molenberg, when the Tudor rider [Rick Pluimers] crashed in front of him, which was a crucial moment. What struck me was that he seemed so cool when it happened. A lot of riders would have reacted with a sudden movement. He just moved calmly, got his foot out, nipped around, and got moving again. That is just class bike handling. When you’re in a moment like that, and you’re fighting on the climb, and the adrenaline is flowing, to be able to have that cool head is a huge thing.
That said, one of the big question marks was whether his rivals could have done more. It was interesting to see the scenes beyond the finish line with Van der Poel’s two breakaway companions. Florian Vermeersch and Van der Poel give each other a big hug, but Tim van Dijke didn’t get anything – he was basically ignored after the finish line.
‘His market value would be a good bit higher’
Vemeersch, on the other hand, didn’t skip a turn. I was watching it, wondering, ‘Why is he riding that strongly with him?’ He was too generous, in my eyes.
There has been all this talk ahead of the Classics of the only way to put pressure on Van der Poel and Pogačar being to refuse to collaborate with them at the front – Tiesj Benoot said as much. But on Saturday, it was the same story.
When you’re…
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