Mathieu van der Poel powered to his first road race victory of the year at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad this afternoon. The Dutchman pressed on over the top of the Molenberg climb with 45km to go, skilfully avoiding a crash directly in front of him. This action developed into a three-rider winning breakaway, and the former world road race champion eventually left his companions behind to claim a fine solo win.
Van der Poel has been riding Canyon bikes for years, and has a 10-year deal with the German brand. It's not unusual to see a star of Van der Poel's calibre riding various custom-painted bikes, but today's race-winning machine has several interesting points to go over and could be a sign of things to come for two big brands.
