The scene on the Koppenberg was mayhem, riders strewn throughout the slim hill, each toes on the ground, slipping on its rain-soaked cobbles. They gripped their bikes and pushed in a panic. The race was getting away from them. With 45km to go, this was the decisive second.
Forward, the blur of the world champion’s rainbow bands grew fainter and smaller. His primary dossard, too. The place mortals have been pressured to stroll, Mathieu van der Poel flew. The Dutchman, born on Belgian soil, vanished over the crest of the climb, to not be seen once more till the rostrum ceremony over an hour later.
“I used to be slipping and sliding all the best way to the highest,” Van der Poel mentioned post-race. Crucially, although, he remained seated within the saddle. Solely a handful of riders did. It was a present of dealing with prowess, attribute of the six-time cyclo-cross world champion, that set him as much as solo clear, onto victory, and into the historical past books.
Previous to Sunday, solely six males had gained the Tour Flanders 3 times. Van der Poel turned the seventh.
“My season is already successful now,” he smiled. “Successful the Tour of Flanders on the planet champion’s jersey is a dream come true. I simply want a couple of moments to let it sink in.”
As his benefit grew within the race, stretching from seven seconds to over a minute, so did the lactic acid in his legs. The rain fell in Flanders, dealing the world champion a take a look at of the toughest endurance, one which requested for psychological power as a lot as bodily.
“I used to be actually utterly empty within the final 10km to the end line,” the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider mentioned. “I simply closed my eyes and tried to get there as quickly as potential.”
When he lastly reached it, he had time to savour the second. Having pedalled for over six hours straight, Van der Poel eased off within the remaining meters, and swung his leg over his bike body throughout the road. He then stood, in the course of a normally non-descript carriageway outdoors Oudenaarde, and lifted his bike above his head.
The breathlessness in his winner’s interview was telling. “It’s one of many hardest races I’ve ever finished,” the world champion mentioned. Can he repeat the feat at Paris-Roubaix in per week’s time? “I can not take into consideration Roubaix but,” he stared again on the interviewer. In an trustworthy tone, he added: “I’m actually, actually f*cked for the time being.”
