Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar were locked in a member’s only contest out front at the E3 Saxo Classic, but Matteo Jorgenson would prove the best of the rest by day’s end in Harelbeke, clipping away from the chasing group to claim a fine fourth place.
The Movistar rider had as good a view of their flyby on the Stationberg as anybody else, and he quickly understood that there was nothing to be done but watch the elite trio glide out of sight over the crest of the hill. When a muddied Jorgenson wheeled to a halt past the finish line on Stasegemsesteenweg, he was asked to recall that sonic boom with 57km to go.
