Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won Tour of Flanders on Sunday with a 45km solo. Behind, Luca Mozzato (Arkéa – B&B Hotels) won the sprint for second, followed by Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) in third.
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) was the first to make a meaningful attack in the 270km race when he attacked up the Molenberg with 100km remaining. This attack was countered by Van der Poel, but Pedersen launched a second attack and Van der Poel’s teammate, Gianni Vermeersch, was given the orders to sit on Pedersen’s wheel. At around 60km, these two leaders were only 30″ ahead of the reduced peloton when Van der Poel pushed the pace and brought 13 riders with him up to the leaders.
But it was only a matter of time before Van der Poel made his move. When the group reached the Koppenberg, Van der Poel made his attack and that was it. No one could respond and Van der Poel soloed to victory.
Afterwards, Van der Poel credited the weather and his team for helping him win. “The rain made the cobblestone climbs difficult. The Kopenberg in particular was sliding and slipping all the way to the top. The team rode fantastic. I said that they had to keep it together until the Koppenberg. He summed it up by saying it was the “toughest Tour of Flanders I have ridden.”
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) explained his strategy in attacking with 100km to go. “I hoped the gap would be bigger, so I could take it a little easier on the climbs. Unfortunately, that plan did not work out as hoped. Sometimes it works out well and sometimes it doesn’t.” And while things did not turn out the way he hoped, Pedersen was optimistic about Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix. “Hopefully I can ride a nice race next week. I have seven days to recover and prepare. We believe that I can be 100% in seven days.”
Results
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/ronde-van-vlaanderen/2024/result
