Ronde van Vlaanderen Recap

We should have known better.

There isn’t much anybody (non-Pogacar) can do when Mathieu van der Poel is on this kind of form, especially on this course.

Despite a flurry of attacks and crazy action from 110 kilometers out to 45 kilometers out, the end result, at least at the top step of the podium, was all-too-predictable. MVDP won the race with a 45km solo attack by a minute, and would have won by a lot more if he hadn’t backed off in the final 13km flat section.

Matteo Jorgenson, who at the time of MVDP’s attack on the Koppenberg looked like the second-strongest man in the race, blew up tragically and finished 31st. It was a relentless back-and-forth battle for second and third. Eventually, in one of the biggest surprises of the season, Luca Mozzato of Arkea – B&B Hotels took second in the, and Michael Matthews chopped Nils Pollitt, which meant that Matthews was relegated and Pollitt took third officially.

Shoutout to Magnus Sheffield for a 6th-place finish. To get into the top ten on this race is incredibly impressive. There were certainly a lot of surprises in that top ten. Another one was Antonio Morgado (UAE), at age 20, and of Portugal, taking 5th. He’s the youngest top-five finisher in a Monument in a very long time.

In the end, though, it’s all about the winner. MVDP took a legendary third victory in De Ronde (which ties the all-time record), and in the rainbow jersey. He just has to hope that Pogacar doesn’t turn up at this race for the next few years, and he’ll put the record out of reach.

I don’t think the race would have been too different if Wout van Aert had been in it. MVDP obliterated him at the E3 Saxo Classic, and this course suits the Dutchman even more.

I wish I had more to say, but without Pogacar, MVDP is going to clean up these races. MVDP is obviously on scintillating form, and I do wonder what he’s going to be able to achieve the rest of the season. Paris-Roubaix is up next, and he’ll enter as the big favorite.

Until then, Itzulia should have some interesting racing in the Basque Country.

Jamie