Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won the first head-to-head battle with Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) at the E3 Saxo Classic, attacking alone on the Paterberg with 43 km to go and then holding off his big rival in a tense pursuit match to the finish.
Van der Poel was ever-aggressive during the final two hours of racing, often attacking and chasing other moves. He was isolated and outnumbered but still emerged as the strongest rider in the race.
Van Aert was unfortunate to crash just seconds after van der Poel attacked on the Paterberg but bravely fought on. He got up and set off in a lone chase, closed the gap to van der Poel to just ten seconds but then blew up, losing any chance of victory.
At the finish in Harelbeke, Van der Poel had time to ease up and give a thumbs up to the television cameras in the final kilometre. He has finished third, second in 2023 but now has taken the win. As he crossed the line, Van der Poel stood on the pedals and celebrated with a salute gesture.
“I’m super happy. I didn’t expect it. I thought I needed a few more races to get to this level,” Van der Poel said after the finish.
“Now I hope to recover from this one for Sunday (Gent-Wevelgem). I have to say I was pretty cooked in the end.”
It was Alpecin-Deceunnick’s third consecutive Classic win after Jasper Philipsen won Milan-San Remo and Wednesday’s Classic Brugge-De Panne.
“We always have one goal in mind,” Van der Poel said.
“The guys did an awesome job, putting me in the front with Søren (Kragh Andersen) who was there and important for me.”
The E3 Saxo Classic has a special place in his already rich palmares.
“This one was not yet on it, so I'm super happy to win, especially with the way I won it,” he said.
“I think we can be proud as a team, with the victory. Now I’ll try to recover for Sunday because Gent-Wevelgem is also not on my palmares. With Jasper Philipsen, I think we have two guys who are favourites, so let's hope we can add another win to the team.”
Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) caught Van Aert with five kilometres to go and then beat him in the sprint to take second, a massive 1:31 down on van der Poel.
Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) beat Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Jhonatan Narváez (Inoes Grenadiers) a few seconds later for the minor places.
How it unfolded
Even though Mathieu van der Poel and Wout Van Aert have been jousting against one another since their teens, their every meeting still carries a sense of occasion.
The anticipation was even more intense for this edition of E3 Saxo Classic, given that it marked their first head-to-head encounter of 2024. There was a sense of excitement in the air at the start.
E3 Saxo Classic's terrain is very similar to the Tour of Flanders, but its shorter distance makes for a more explosive race. The speed was already high in the opening kilometres, and so was the tension. An early crash saw Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) and Dylan van Baarle (Visma-Lease A Bike) among the fallers, though both men quickly rejoined the bunch. Per Strand Hagenes (Visma-Lease A Bike) was less fortunate, with the young Norwegian forced to abandon.
The early climb of the Katteberg saw a group featuring Jakob Fuglsang briefly forge clear, but the high speed made it difficult for any break to gain traction and the peloton was still intact after covering some 51 km in the first hour of racing.
A group of ten riders went clear shortly afterwards, and Emil Herzog (Bora-Hansgrohe), Jannik Steimle (Q36.5), Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar), Rémi Cavagna (Movistar), Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa-B&B), Niklas Märkl (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), Sander De Pestel (Decathlon-AG2R), Ivo Oliveira (UAE), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X) and Jelle Vermoote (Bingoal-WB) would build a maximum lead of four minutes as the pace finally relented in the bunch.
The détente wouldn’t last long, of course. The passage over La Houppe after 88 km began the relentless succession of climbs that gives this race its staccato rhythm.
The intensity in the peloton began to rise while the break’s lead started to dwindle accordingly as the race made its way over the Oude Kruisberg, Hotond and Kortekeer.
A first attack on the Taaienberg
As ever, the first major rendezvous came after 126 km and with 80 km to race on the cobbled Taaienberg, the climb Tom Boonen used to test his legs so often over the years.
Jasper Stuyven demonstrated Lidl-Trek’s ambition by leading onto the climb, but Van der Poel delivered an ominous show of force by accelerating midway up the ascent, immediately opening a gap over the rest.
The world champion ripped clear alone, with Stuyven, Van Aert, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Matteo Trentin (Tudor) giving chase over the summit and the rest of the bunch scrambling to get on terms. Van der Poel pressed on for a time over the other side for good measure, before relenting and waiting for a group of 30 or so riders. It was an early show of force.
Van der Poel’s flex was enough to convince Pedersen of the need to anticipate the world champion’s next move, and the Lidl-Trek man pressed on alone with 70 km to go, dangling ahead of the favourites group as far as the Boigneberg.
On the climb itself, Van der Poel made his second, rasping acceleration of the day, with Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) tagging the move.
Van der Poel kicked again with intent over the other side, and this time it was Van Aert who responded in person before another regrouping that saw 25 or so riders close to within half a minute of the break ahead of the day’s 11th climb, the Ellestraat. It was an aggressive but tactical race that was jaw-dropping to watch.
The intensity dialled up another notch on the Stationberg cobbles with 58 km to go. Oier Lazkano (Movistar) took a leaf out of Pedersen’s book with an acceleration on the climb, but he was immediately caught and passed by Van der Poel and Van Aert, who zoomed clear over the summit and set off in pursuit of the break.
It was quickly clear that the big two were in a league of their own, but it was still a touch too soon for them to begin their duel in earnest and they were rejoined by a group that included Stuyven, Pedersen, Lazkano, Stefan Küng, Tim Wellens, Matteo Jorgenson and Biniam Girmay.
Shortly afterwards, Lazkano and Jorgenson ghosted up to the remnants of the break, joining De Pestel, Steimle, Cavagna, Vermoote, Märkl and Abrahamsen in front. While Van Aert had Jorgenson to represent him out in front, Van der Poel was without teammates in the group of favourites, where a certain caginess took hold as they entered the final 50km.
The Paterberg changes everything
Lazkano broke clear alone on the Kapelberg, but the holding pattern behind was never likely to last and the race turned completely on the vertiginous slopes of the Paterberg. The cobbled climb was always going to be a key point in the race but little did we know how.
Van der Poel accelerated in the gutter, in pursuit of Lazkano. Behind him, Van Aert tried to go after him but lost control of his bike as he flipped from the gutter onto the cobbles and crashed hard.
The Dutchman did not look back and surged away on the cobbled climb as Van Aert had to put his chain back on and start to chase. The race was on and so there was no thought and no time for any gifts or sporting fair play.
At the summit of the Paterberg Van der Poel was 12 seconds ahead of Narvaez and 18 seconds ahead of Van Aert. The race had turned massively after a long series of attacks, chases and counter-attacks but was it over?
Van der Poel went all-in and began to time trial away from his rivals, with the gap soon up to 30 seconds. Jorgenson led the chase for Van Aert but he realised he had to move if he wanted to stay in the race and take on his rival van der Poel.
On the Oude Kwaremont, Van Aert surged away and began the pursuit of van der Poel. The crowds went wild as the van der Poel-Van Aert suddenly became a head-to-head battle out on the road.
They were soon in awe as Van Aert began to cut into van der Poel’s 30-second lead. On the Karnemelkbeekstraat, Van Aert pulled back 15 seconds and soon started to see van der Poel ahead of him. He seemed stronger and is the better time trialist but he could close such a significant gap?
The rain returned as the two hit the final sector of cobbles at Varent, with 25 km to race, but nobody held back, it was no moment for caution and calculations but for all-out effort.
Van der Poel danced up the Tiegemberg, the 17th and last climb of the race. He still seemed strong despite his team car coming up, worrying, ready to offer him a gel and a final moment of encouragement.
Van Aert kept chasing but his pedal stroke was not quite as fresh and strong. Indeed, he lost five seconds on the Tiegemberg and the advantage switched to van der Poel, who extended his lead to 40 seconds and broke Van Aert’s morale.
Behind a group of cheers was at 1:25. Narvaez, Stuyven, Girmay, Wellens and Jorgenson worked well together but they were clearly racing for the minor places.
On the flat roads back to Harelbeke, the rain and mist came down. But Van der Poel pressed on in a state of grace and control, at one on his white Canyon bike, dressed in his rainbow jersey and black shorts.
In the final 20 km, it was clear that van der Poel was heading to victory but Van Aert faded and then suffered terribly. He was caught by Stuyven with five kilometres to go and could only try to survive to the finish as the other chasers neared.
He hung on to Stuyven’s wheel and finished third but 1:31 down on van der Poel.
Van der Poel has now beaten Van Aert 16 times in 23 major head-to-head road race battles but there will surely be more battles to come in the next few weeks. It promises to be a great cobbled Classics campaign.
Results
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