A hard day in Flanders.
The 66th edition of E3 Saxo Classic was, as expected, a race of attrition, the countless attacks that began coming more than 100 kilometers from home whittling down the peloton and putting the riders in a single-file on the winding roads of Flanders. Soudal Quick-Step moved into the spotlight for the first time before the Taaienberg, when Gianni Moscon and Casper Pedersen pushed a fierce tempo that made a selection.
The race split on the iconic hill that Tom Boonen used for his trademark attack, but it came back together on the descent. This sparked a move of Julian Alaphilippe, who went all-out to create a gap, and almost made it, only a strong response from behind preventing the elastic from being snapped. It didn’t take long for the two-time winner of the rainbow jersey to try again, applying pressure on a select favourites group which began to fragment with 60 kilometers to go.
Another regrouping took place, then attacks began coming left and right, and Julian – after being briefly distanced – had the power to return to the main peloton, which then tackled the steep Paterberg. A crash just in front of Alaphilippe in the first part of the climb slowed him down, just as the hammer was being dropped at the front. Our team continued to fight hard, but the race was pretty much over by the time they entered the last 30 kilometers. The victory went to Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), while Yves Lampaert concluded the day as our highest-ranked rider.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
