Mathieu van der Poel let himself be celebrated like a triumphant in the drizzle of Oudenaarde, Tadej Pogacar cursed violently and rolled to the bus completely frustrated. In the thrilling finale of the 106th Tour of Flanders, Radstar van der Poel confidently took the lead in the sprint, while Pogacar overdid the poker and finished fourth in his first ronde without a podium. Dylan van Baarle from the Netherlands finished second ahead of Valentin Madouas from France. German drivers played no role.
“I worked very hard, gave 100 percent and I’m just happy that it worked out,” said van der Poel after his second victory at the Ronde. In the final of the 272.5-kilometre hunt over the Flemish cobbled hills, everything looked like a sprint between van der Poel and Pogacar. But the duo gambled several hundred meters before the goal, so that Madouas and van Baarle caught up.
The big loser then was Pogacar – a rare sentiment for the 23-year-old Slovenian and two-time Tour de France winner. “He was the strongest today and I would have applauded him if he had won,” said van der Poel. In the end, the Dutch cross specialist celebrated his second win in Flanders after losing the sprint to Kasper Asgreen last year.
Without the big favorite Wout van Aert, the round was more open than it had been for a long time. The Belgian champions were absent due to a coronavirus infection and van der Poel, Asgreen and Pogacar were among the favorites when he attended for the first time. Tour winner Pogacar twitched first at the Oude Kwaremont with 55 kilometers to go, but the other contenders could not be distanced.
The race was decided on the Paterberg
On the Paterberg that followed shortly thereafter, the race fell apart again, the German hopes Nils Politt and John Degenkolb were no longer among the front runners. On the up to 22 percent steep Koppenberg, Pogacar attacked again, this time only van der Poel followed from the favorites. Asgreen was extremely unlucky when his chain jumped off in the middle of the climb.
Pogacar and van der Poel initially found themselves in a five-man lead group that already had a decisive break 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 neutralized the last Pogacar attack on Paterberg with great effort, everything was ready for an exciting sprint final – which it was because of the gambling.
For the first time since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, spectators were allowed along the route without restrictions. The organizers expected up to a million fans. They first saw a German runaway. Max Kanter from Team Movistar attacked with eight other riders a few kilometers after the start at Antwerp’s Grote Markt.
The group never got more than four and a half minutes ahead, but held the lead until 55 kilometers from the finish. The escape was only over after a good 200 kilometers when several attacks from the field accelerated the race. In the final none of the German drivers played a role. (dpa)