Van der Poel wins the Tour of Flanders

By Tom Bachmann, dpa

Mathieu van der Poel celebrated like a triumphant rider in the drizzle of Oudenaarde, Tadej Pogacar swore violently at first and then rolled to the bus completely frustrated.

In the thrilling finale of the 106th Tour of Flanders, cycling star van der Poel had a commanding lead in the sprint, while Pogacar overdid the poker and finished fourth in his first Ronde without a podium. Dutchman Dylan van Baarle finished second ahead of Frenchman Valentin Madouas. German riders did not play a role.

"I worked very hard, gave 100 per cent and I'm just happy that it worked out," said van der Poel after his second victory at the Ronde. In the finale of the 272.5 kilometre chase over the Flemish cobblestone hills, everything looked like a sprint between van der Poel and Pogacar. However, the duo played poker several hundred metres before the finish, allowing Madouas and van Baarle to catch up.

Favourite van Aert not present due to Corona

The big loser was Pogacar - a rare feeling for the 23-year-old Slovenian and two-time winner of the Tour de France. "He was the strongest today and I would have applauded him if he had won," said van der Poel. In the end, the Dutch cyclo-cross specialist celebrated his second success in Flanders after losing the sprint to Kasper Asgreen last year.

Without the big favourite Wout van Aert, the Ronde was more open than it had been for a long time. The Belgian champion was absent due to a coronavirus infection, meaning that van der Poel, Asgreen and Pogacar were among the favourites for his first participation. Tour winner Pogacar was the first to twitch on the Oude Kwaremont 55 kilometres before the finish, but the other contenders for victory could not be distanced.

Only van der Poel can follow Pogacar's attacks

The race flew apart again on the Paterberg shortly afterwards, with the German hopes Nils Politt and John Degenkolb no longer at the front. On the Koppenberg, which was up to 22 per cent steep, Pogacar attacked again, this time only van der Poel followed among the favourites. Asgreen was massively unlucky when his chain came off in the middle of the climb.

Pogacar and van der Poel initially found themselves in a five-man lead group, which had already pulled away from the rest of the field. On the Oude Kwaremont, the penultimate climb, Pogacar attacked again and only van der Poel followed. When the Dutchman also neutralised the last Pogacar attack on the Paterberg with great effort, everything was set for a thrilling sprint finale - which it turned out to be due to the gambling.

For the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, spectators were once again allowed along the route without restrictions. The organisers were expecting up to one million fans. They initially saw a German breakaway. Max Kanter from Team Movistar attacked with eight other riders just a few kilometres after the start at the Grote Markt in Antwerp.

Although the group never got more than four and a half minutes ahead, it stayed in front until 55 kilometres before the finish. Only when several attacks from the peloton accelerated the race did the escape come to an end after a good 200 kilometres. None of the German riders played a role in the finale.

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