Mathieu van der Poel soloed to victory in the E3 Saxo Classic on Friday after a 41 kilometre solo attack launched on the Paterberg.
The World Champion time trialled his way to the line in Harelbeke to take his first win of the season in the rainbow bands and make a big statement of intent ahead of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in the next fortnight.
Lidl-Trek’s Jasper Stuyven took second place after catching Wout van Aert in the closing kilometres in the streets of Harelbeke. After crashing at the bottom of the Paterberg, Van Aert managed to take third after trying to bridge across to his rival on the Oude Kwaremont.
The Belgian crashed just as Van der Poel launched his race winning move but struggled to get back on terms with the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider. Van der Poel explained post-race that he did not realise that his rival had gone to ground further back down the Paterberg once he had attacked.
Van der Poel was constantly on the attack in the latter half of the race or chasing down other moves demonstrating his strength. He had time to enjoy it as he crossed the finish line in the rain and made a salute gesture to the television cameras.
Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) completed the top five in fourth and fifth respectively.
How it happened
As the peloton lined up for the start in Harelbeke, all eyes were locked onto Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, the two outright favourites for what was expected to be a fast, frenetic version of the 207 kilometre Belgian Classic.
With 80 kilometres to race, a 10 man breakaway was clear of a select chasing group containing all of the favourites. Van der Poel looked to split the race up and launched an attack on the Taaienberg. The Dutchman was swiftly pulled back by Lidl-Trek who were leading the group.
The Spanish national champion, Oier Lazkano, was in the thick of the action on the cobbles. He attacked on the Stationsberg sector at 57 kilometres and crushed the breaks advantage to just 23 seconds.
With 43 kilometres to race, the breakaway had been caught and the riders were onto the Paterberg. Mathieu van der Poel launched a huge attack on the steepest pitch of the climb but further back Van Aert caught an uneven section in the road and crashed hard as the riders battled with the stress of Van der Poel going clear.
Van Aert got back on terms quickly, made his way back into the group, and attacked in pursuit of his rival at the top of the Oude Kwaremont.
Despite a huge effort from the Belgian, it proved to all be in vain as he struggled to cut into the advantage that Van der Poel had swiftly built further up the road. Van Aert was caught by Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) who took second ahead of Van Aert in third.
Van der Poel held on to win by more than a minute and demonstrate his form ahead of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in the coming fortnight of Classics action.
Results E3 Saxo Classic 2024 (207.6 km)
1. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Deceuninck in 4:39:15
2. Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Lidl-Trek at 1:31
3. Wout van Aert (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike at 1:34
4. Tim Wellens (Bel) UAE Team Emirates at 1:48
5. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike at 1:50
6. Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers at 1:52
7. Nils Politt (Ger) UAE Team Emirates at 2:48
8. Toms Skuijns (Lat) Lidl-Trek
9. Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Arkea-B&B Hotels
10. Alex Kirsch (Lux) Lidl-Trek all at same time
