Less than every week since his victory at Milan-San Remo, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) as soon as once more stole the present at E3 Saxo Classic with a solo victory into Harelbeke.
The Dutchman made his successful assault out of a five-rider breakaway over the Oude Kwaremont and slowly pushed out his lead all through the ultimate 40km of the race, over the Karnemelkbeekstraat and the Tiegemberg, crossing the road with 1:07 forward of runner-up Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and a pair of:05 forward of third-placed Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers).
The 5 riders within the preliminary breakaway included Van der Poel, Pedersen and Ganna who had bridged throughout to Aimé De Gendt (Cofidis) and Casper Pedersen (Soudal Quick-Step) earlier within the race on the Taaienberg.
The 5 riders labored collectively to keep up a niche that hovered about one minute forward of a six-rider chase group. However, that cohesion crumbled when Van der Poel made his highly effective solo assault over the Kwaremont, forcing gaps to steadily open up between his earlier breakaway companions, as he soloed to the day’s win.
More to return …
Mads Pederseon (Lidl-Trek) rides solo to second place (Image credit score: Getty Images)
