Mathieu van der Poel knew exactly what was coming on the last time up the Oude Kwaremont at the Tour of Flanders, but that forewarning was of little help here. By now, Tadej Pogačar’s attacks are rarely surprising, but they are almost always overwhelming.
So it proved here. Van der Poel had somehow resisted Pogačar’s onslaught on the same climb en route to victory a year ago, and he did it again last week at the E3 Saxo Classic, but at the third time of asking, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider finally had to yield.
