After Flanders win, Mathieu van der Poel says everything else will be a bonus

On Sunday, Mathieu van der Poel claimed his third Ronde van Vlaanderen victory by breaking away solo and passing a struggling Ivan Garcia Cortina on the Koppenberg, 45 km from the finish line. With this hat trick, van der Poel joins Fabian Cancellara, Tom Boonen, and four other riders in the record for the most Tour of Flanders victories. The race day was marked by slippery conditions, resulting in crashes for both Canadian riders. Guillaume Boivin would later abandon.

A group of eight riders broke away early, taking a break after covering 68 km to allow a train to pass. When there were 128 km left, Boivin and several others crashed, leading to Boivin’s withdrawal from the race. Between Wolvenberg and Molenberg, the attacks in the main group intensified.

Pedersen, van der Poel, and Matteo Jorgenson launched attacks that were successfully countered. At the 90 km mark, Houle also crashed. Following Valkenberg, Pedersen initiated another attack, with Gianni Vermeersch from Soudal-Quick Step joining him. Alpecin-Deceuninck gave chase. By the first Oude Kwaremont-Paterberg climb, the Danish and Belgian riders had a 23-second lead over the peloton. Oier Lazcano and van der Poel caught up with them on Kwaremont.

“It may have been an odd move by Mads,” he said. “But in the end, he did pretty well because he was in a good group as well. Only that action with Gianni Vermeersch was perhaps a bit suicidal. But yes, maybe he didn’t feel 100 per cent and was trying to help the team in this way.”

“One of the advantages we have is that the whole team just rides for me. That actually makes it very easy in terms of tactics. They also give 110 per cent,” the world champion said. “And we already knew that other teams were going to attack from very far away. I think the guys did a great job of keeping everything under control. And like I said, that’s all I want. That’s all I asked for, because I knew that at some point it would be the strongest who were going to fight it out.”

MvdP said it evoked memories of the world championships in Harrogate in 2019. The circumstances seemed quite similar towards the end. He found himself struggling to reach the finish line, far from achieving the usual wattages he can deliver. He felt utterly exhausted, drained of energy, and described it as one of the most challenging races he’s ever experienced. There was relentless attacking throughout, and the pace set in the first hour was exceptionally fast, he said.

Van der Poel said that he performed much better in the E3 Saxo Classic than in Flanders. “It is difficult to compare because this is 80 kilometres longer than E3. And today’s circumstances were also different,” he added. “I don’t think anyone had the best legs.”

MvdP became only the seventh rider to win De Ronde three times, but he’s not thinking too much about records.

“That’s not something I’m concerned with. I’ve already gotten a lot more out of my career than I thought. I never expected any of this. To be honest; I see everything that comes next as a bonus,” he said. “I just try to get the best out of myself, and then the results will follow. It’s not that I want to focus on those lists.”

He said the consecutive cobbled hills are perfect for him, which is why it’s his favorite race of the year. After the race, he admitted he was completely worn out.

“To be honest, I’m really tired right now. So it will take some time to realize what I have done. But yes, it’s definitely something I could never have dreamed of winning here as world champion,” he concluded. “The Tour, that’s something special.”