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Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) smashed his way to a solo win Friday at “the mini Flanders” that is the E3 Saxo Classic.
Hot off the back of victory at Milan-San Remo, MVDP countered an early attack by Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) then blasted away from the Dane at 37km to go on the iconic cobbles of the Oude Kwarement.
Van der Poel’s archrival Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) didn’t factor in this key tune-up race ahead of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix and finished back in the bunch.
The E3 Saxo Classic wasn’t an easy win for Van der Poel, who had to push hard into a headwind to beat back a hot pursuit by Pedersen.
The Lidl-Trek leader at one point came close to latching back to Van der Poel, but finally had to make do with second-place in Harelbeke.
“I am very, very happy. It was a tough race with the team,” Van der Poel said at the finish.
“I suffered quite a bit,” he said. “I went quite deep, but I am happy that I can reward my teammates with a victory.”
Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) was also fast onto Pedersen’s initial selective attack at 80km to go on the Taaienberg.
He, Van der Poel, Pedersen, and breakaway riders Casper Pedersen (Soudal Quick-Step) and Aimé de Gendt (Cofidis) rode clear before Van der Poel went thermonuclear on the Oude Kwarement and left everybody swinging.
Ganna finished third into Harelebeke to back up his massive ride last Saturday at Milan-San Remo.
“I’m really happy today. I had good legs,” second-place finisher Pedersen said. “This is the best result I’ve done in this race.
“To be beaten by a monster, that’s OK,” Pedersen said of Van der Poel. “On the Kwaremont he went fast already at the bottom and at one point, I just couldn’t hold the wheel. When he gets a gap, he just keeps extending it. It’s almost impossible to come back from that.”
Van der Poel: ‘I have done everything I can to be in the best position for Flanders’
Van der Poel’s win Friday — his second straight solo win at the “mini Flanders” — makes for a serious statement of intent ahead of his title defenses at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
Alpecin-Deceuninck’s alpha has not yet been beaten this year in one-day classics.
Even Tadej Pogačar will have taken note.
“I always try to peak for the Tour of Flanders,” Van der Poel said at the finish. “Tadej will also be riding there – I will definitely need to be in good shape to beat him, but I think I have done everything I can to be in the best possible position.
“Now we have to wait until next week.”
…and there goes Mathieu van der Poel
The defending champion distances Mads Pedersen with an attack on the Kwaremont pic.twitter.com/nO1TEmpQAg
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) March 28, 2025
Visma-Lease a Bike looking for best monument legs: ‘I wasn’t good enough’
Van der Poel, Ganna, and Pedersen will all be purring with pleasure while they peruse their power profiles Friday night. Their form for the cobblestone monuments is looking just fine after San Remo and E3.
Visma-Lease a Bike co-captains Van Aert and Matteo Jorgenson might not quite be so happy.
Both of the “Killer Bees” missed out on the decisive moves and were left chasing all day.
Paris-Nice champion Jorgenson led a small group of pursuers, but they were racing for fourth place at best. The US star faded in the gallop for the “places of honor,” but hit a still-solid ninth place.
And Wout?
He was buried way back in the bunch.
“I was too far back on the Taaienberg and missed the move,” Van Aert told VTM. “From that moment on, it was a race backward. Just before the Taaienberg, every position counts and I wasn’t good enough to be there.”
The Belgian only landed back from altitude Wednesday ahead of his mission on the cobblestone monuments.
His best legs may still be brewing for De Ronde.
