Mathieu van der Poel wins Dwars door Vlaanderen

CTT

Mathieu van der Poel won the Dwars door Vlaanderen in Belgium on Wednesday, the final warm-up for Sunday’s Tour of Flanders.

You can rewatch Dwars door Vlaanderen HERE

Van der Poel outgunned Tiesj Benoot to the finish line after breaking clear with 2km to go. Tom Pidcock rounded out the podium, a five seconds behind the winner, after the 184km race that ended in Waregem.

“I went pretty deep. I felt good but for sure not the strongest in the leading group,” Van der Poel admitted.

“I had to close the gap a few times and it really hurt, but I think I rode a perfect final. I already saw that Tiesj was really strong and he deserves to be second as well. We went away on Berg Ten Houte and the co-operation was really good. We were all really strong guys and it was almost impossible to catch us.”

Ineos featuring Pidcock attacked at the 68km mark, taking Van der Poel, but not Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian was unable to make up lost ground on the leading pack, eventually coming in 10th.