He said he had “even more pressure on his shoulders” in the absence of Wout Van Aert and Jasper Stuyven but Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) assumed his status as favorite this Sunday March 31, on the occasion of the 108th Tour of Flanders. The 29-year-old grandson of Raymond Poulidor became a legend by winning the race alone for the third time. A look back in figures at the Dutchman’s historic performance.
45. It was 45 km from the finish that Mathieu Van der Poel let go of his opponents this Sunday. In the climb of the formidable Koppenberg (600 m at 11% average), the Dutchman accelerated again and forced the other riders, unable to follow his pace, to put their foot down and push their bikes to the top of the ascent. Van der Poel then flew to victory. This is the 2nd longest solo escape on a classic in two years, after Tadej Pogacar on the Strade Bianche 2024 (80 km).
5. Mathieu Van der Poel won his Fifth Monument (the name given to the five most prestigious one-day races) after his victories on the Tour of Flanders in 2020 and 2022, and on Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo in 2023. Liège-Bastogne-Liège is missing from his record and the Tour of Lombardy, races with steep slopes that he will have more difficulty winning given his profile as a “heavy” and powerful rider.
6. The Dutchman became this Sunday the sixth world champion to win the Tour of Flanders, rainbow jersey on his back. The last time a world champion won was in 2016 with Peter Sagan. At the time the Slovak made the difference in the Paterberg (400 m at 12.9%), the final climb of the day and also won solo. Besides Sagan, the 4 other world champions to have won the “Ronde” with the rainbow jersey are Louison Bobet (1955), Rik Van Looy (1962), Eddy Merckx (1975), and Tom Boonen (2006) .
7. By winning this Sunday for the third time in his career in Oudenaarde, Mathieu Van der Poel became the seventh rider to win the Tour of Flanders three times, a record. There are six of them who have achieved this feat in the past: the Belgians Achiel Buysse (1940, 1941, 1943), Éric Leman (1970, 1972, 1973), Johan Museeuw (1993, 1995, 1998) and Tom Boonen (2005, 2006). , 2012), the Italian Fiorenzo Magni (1949, 1950, 1951) and the Swiss Fabian Cancellara (2010, 2013, 2014). But none of them managed to raise their arms four times.
11. Defending champion on Paris-Roubaix, Mathieu Van der Poel could become the 11th man (and the first Dutchman) to complete the Tour of Flanders-Hell of the North double. Here again, he could draw inspiration from Fabian Cancellara (2010 and 2013) and Tom Boonen (2005 and 2012). Before them, the Belgians Peter Van Petegem (2003) Roger De Vlaeminck (1977), Rik Van Looy (1962), Alfred De Bruyne (1957), Raymond Impanis (1954), Gaston Rebry (1934), Romain Gijssels (1932) and the Swiss Heiri Suter (1923) also achieved this performance. An appointment has been made for this Sunday, April 7!