Victorious Van der Poel rode final 20km ‘almost with my eyes shut’

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) claimed he rode the final 20 kilometres “almost with my eyes shut” as he conquered the cobbles and elements to take a glorious solo win at the Tour of Flanders on Sunday.

The Dutchman rode away on the Koppenberg with 45km remaining as only Matteo Jorgenson (Visma–Lease a Bike) could offer token resistance. Soon he was alone, boasting a lead of over 90 seconds as the rain and wind battered him.

Van der Poel eased up in the closing kilometres, victory assured, as he finished 1’02” clear of second-placed Luca Mozzato (Arkea-B&B Hotels) to join an exclusive club of riders to win the title three times. No one has won four. Yet.

“It was just surviving today, it’s the hardest one I’ve ever ridden with this weather that we had,” said Van der Poel.

“The last 20km was almost with my eyes shut. I was so fatigued I didn’t even think about it.

“The rain made the cobbled climbs so hard, the Koppenberg was ridiculously hard I was just slipping and sliding all the way to the top. With this wind it was pretty far to go alone – I did it but at the end the keg was empty.

“My season is already a success now, winning Tour of Flanders in the world champion’s journey is a dream come true.”

It was Van der Poel’s fifth Monument victory, with the 29-year-old still needing Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Tour of Lombardy to become only the fourth man in history to complete the Grand Slam.

But his current focus is on the cobbled classics, with his next assignment taking him to France to defend his Paris-Roubaix title.

“I cannot think about Roubaix yet,” he added.

“I’m really f***** at the moment. It’s one of the hardest races I’ve ever done, with the weather I was completely empty the last 10km to the finish line. I closed my eyes and tried to get there as soon as possible.”

‘Impeccable’ Alpecin-Deceuninck delivered under pressure

How ‘impeccable’ Alpecin-Deceuninck delivered Van der Poel to Flanders win

With defending champion Tadej Pogacar skipping Flanders to prioritise a rare Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double in 2024 and long-time rival Wout van Aert suffering multiple broken bones in a serious crash earlier in the week, Van der Poel was the clear favourite on the Flemish cobbles.

Speaking on The Breakaway, Dan Lloyd saluted the Dutchman’s Alpecin team-mates, who expertly controlled a lively race.

“We talked so much about the pressure they had on their shoulders today having the outright favourite in their team,” said Lloyd.

“The way they rode today was pretty much impeccable. There was one very, very small moment with around 100km to go when it looked like they might be out of control of the race. They got back in control, almost in an instance, and from there Van der Poel never set a foot wrong.

“He was always where he needed to be, he was never using energy where he didn’t need to use it and when he did decide to go, that was that.

“There was no sense of suspense from that point onwards because you could see how strong, how in control he was. My word, that was a race that was done down to the letter.”