Mathieu van der Poel sassed Team DSM online for its sketchy move at Flanders
The Dutchman finished second in the event
Mathieu van der Poel took to Twitter after the Tour of Flanders to criticize Team DSM’s tactics at the Tour of Flanders on Sunday.
With 130 km remaining, the break had six minutes on the peloton. Team DSM, led by John Degenkolb went to the front and abruptly decreased their pace. It was so slow that some of the riders in the back had to take their feet out. With the narrow roads of Belgium, it meant no one could ride by. Then, after reaching the top of a climb, they gunned it, creating a death line with brutal accordion effects that ravaged the pack.
Tadej Pogačar would go on to drop everyone on the third time up the Oude Kwaremont and take his third Monument, with van der Poel and Danish rider Mads Pedersen snagging third.
As for DSM? Although the tactic is not new (Team Sky used to do it ten years ago), it didn’t exactly work out. Degenkolb was their top finisher in 19th.
Van der Poel quote tweeted a video of the maneuver, with a hint of sarcasm in one word: Chapeau.
Chapeau @TeamDSM ?? https://t.co/yJcWCpq6qQ
— Mathieu Van der Poel (@mathieuvdpoel) April 2, 2023
