As a precaution, Mathieu van der Poel fled. Since the weather at home fluctuated between rainy and stormy, the Dutchman flew into the Spanish sun in a private jet.
Nothing should limit your preparation for the Tour of Flanders. “De Ronde”, Belgium’s secret national holiday, takes place on Easter Sunday and marks the start of two further – possibly epic – duels with pro cyclist Tadej Pogačar.
“Last preparation in Spain for Holy Week,” van der Poel announced on Instagram and boarded the plane. The 31-year-old has his fair-weather base near Calpe on the Costa Blanca. There he trained alongside Jordi Meeus, whose Red Bull team had a surprise in store on Thursday: Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel will compete in Flanders for the first time. Can he intervene in the duel between van der Poel and Pogačar? In Belgium they are already going crazy.
Dress rehearsal won
Van der Poel is actually the best classic driver of his generation. He won three times in Flanders and three times in Roubaix. Immortal victories in the so-called Holy Week of cycling, as both monuments are always only seven days apart.
If it weren’t for Pogačar, who, thanks to his unique versatility, is also a four-time winner of the Tour de France and fights for victories on the bumpy pavement. The Slovenian van der Poel has already sensitively shown the limits twice in Flanders.
Everything should be different on Sunday, van der Poel wants to be in front of Pogačar again like in 2022. The eight-time cross country world champion won the E3 prize, the most important preparation race. His defeat against Pogačar at Milan-Sanremo two weeks ago was probably also due to a hand injury van der Poel suffered in a fall.
Pogačar and enjoyment
278 kilometers from Antwerp to Oudenaarde and 16 toxic climbs stand between van der Poel and a fourth victory in the Ronde. It would be historic. Although there are seven drivers with three successes, no one has yet achieved one more.
Of course, Pogačar doesn’t want to see a jubilant van der Poel. The 27-year-old drove two races this year, resulting in two victories. On the one hand, Pogačar is there in Flanders to also get his third victory and to prepare for Paris-Roubaix, where he came second in his debut last year – behind van der Poel.
But Pogačar also emphasizes that he is traveling to Belgium for another reason. “Flanders is one of the biggest strongholds of cycling. The atmosphere at this race is special. It’s just a pleasure to be there,” said Pogačar. The world champion is supported, among others, by Nils Politt from Cologne, who would be the leader in almost any other team.
Which tactics does van der Poel choose?
Van der Poel suffered his two defeats against Pogačar in Flanders in the same way. On the third and final crossing of the Oude Kwaremont – not a steep, but very long cobblestone climb at just over two kilometers long – Pogačar put so much power on the pedals that van der Poel could no longer follow. The Slovenian will probably try again right there – why not.
In 2024, in his last Ronde victory to date, Van der Poel attacked in Pogačar’s absence on the Koppenberg, that monster that is up to 22 percent steep about 45 kilometers from the finish. There he could also get rid of Pogačar thanks to his better control of the bike. However, he will probably have the best chances if he decides to sprint. He defeated Pogačar in 2022. By the way, the weather forecast for Sunday is not on the side of the sun-lover van der Poel: storms and rain are forecast.
