How Four Riders Failed to Catch Van der Poel

They had Mathieu van der Poel against the ropes — 10 meters to be exact — in the improbable sight of the Dutch superstar nearly caught inside the final kilometer of the E3 Saxo Classic.

A four-rider group — Per Strand Hagenes, Florian Vermeersch, Stefan Dewulf and Jonas Abrahamsen — had already done the hard work and trimmed Van der Poel’s advantage from nearly a minute down to seconds in the closing 15km.

And just when they had him, they stopped pedaling.

What should have been a textbook catch turned into a real-time collective face palm that cost them the win in the prestigious Belgian classic.

Instead of finishing off the job, they hesitated just long enough for Van der Poel to survive — and win.

The final pull never came. What happened?

“There wasn’t a lot of talking,” Hagenes said. “Florian wanted Abrahamsen to do one more pull. He doesn’t want to do it. I don’t want to do it. From there also no one wants to just sit and close it. So that’s racing.”

The four had done what many thought impossible: chase down an attacking MVDP in full flight alone off the front in the cobbled classics.

No one wanted to be the rider who closed the gap and risk losing a podium shot.

“I was asking for one more pull from my fellow competitors, but they decided they wanted to gamble,” Vermeersch said. “At that moment I also said that I was not going to be the guy who was going to close the gap with my last effort.

“I thought, I’m not going to throw all my cards on the table here. Then I’d rather let Mathieu ride. Then we sprint for second place.”

And that’s exactly what happened.

‘I actually gave up’

All four calculated that if you burn the final match to bring back MVDP, you likely burn your own chances.

Who knows what sport directors were screaming into the earpieces, but Dewulf described it as a collective lapse.

“It was a really strange situation,” he said. “I think everyone had it in their heads that we were back on Van der Poel. But in the end, we just didn’t come back completely. I was gambling that someone else would close the gap so that I could launch my own sprint.”

That hesitation was enough.

Van der Poel sensed the opening and slammed it shut with one final desperate effort.

“I actually gave up because they were so close,” Van der Poel said. “I thought if they come back now and it becomes a sprint, then I’m lost anyway because I was at my limit.

“I think they also thought I was giving up, and then I tried to drive to the finish line one more time as fast as possible. And I think they were a bit doubtful behind me, and that allowed me to make it to the finish line.”

Tactics in that moment are fleeting. A flash of hesitation is fatal. Van der Poel pounced.

The others could only react. They knew their chance was gone.

‘That’s cycling’

Perhaps none wanted to risk losing the wheel in the final kilometer and coming away empty-handed.

At least they were still sprinting for the podium, a huge result for any rider in the malfunctioning chase group.

Dewulf had been in the early break and was on his knees. Hagenes has been strong all year but hasn’t yet landed a win or podium.

Vermeersch had to change bikes before the attacks on the Taaienberg and fought all day to scrape back to the front.

“I’m happy with the podium. I’m happy with the legs I have, but I had a feeling there was more,” Vermeersch said. “Now we didn’t catch him. Now we sprint for second, and I think we came 10m too [short] here. So maybe there was more to it, but that’s cycling.”

The five-star favorite was there for the taking, but no one knew how to deliver the final blow.

It was a bizarre end to a wild race, and raised plenty of questions ahead of next Sunday’s Tour of Flanders.

Van der Poel said heavy winds took their toll when he was alone, adding he had hoped a rider like Dylan Van Baarle might have had the legs to go with him.

But seeing him fade late against a chase group of second-tier riders gives pause ahead of a Flanders rematch with Tadej Pogačar.

All four had a shot at the biggest win of their careers, but right when they had him, they hesitated. Van der Poel didn’t, and won.