Yet another sensational performance by Mathieu Van der Poel : the Dutch from Alpecin-Fenix takes back what Asgreen had taken away from him a year ago and wins the Tour of Flanders after his success at Dwars.

Even before starting comes the first bad news of the day for Fantacycling managers:   Kragh Andersen   of Team DSM, one of the possible protagonists of the day, does not start. After 20km he is involved in a fall   Tadej Pogacar : UAE Team Emirates champion gets up without consequences.

After a series of shots and counter-shots, the day's escape goes to port 260km from the finish: inside there are   Sébastien Grignard   of Lotto Soudal,   Taco Van Der Hoorn   of the Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux,   Stan Dewulf   of the AG2R Citroën Team,   Manuele Boaro   of Astana,   Tom Bohli   of Cofidis,   Max Kanter   of Movistar,   Luca Mozzato   of B&B Hotels - KTM,   Mathijs Paasschens   of Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB e   Lindsay De Vylder   of Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise. For the 9 fugitives the maximum advantage will reach almost up to five minutes and after 150km of escape the fantamanagers can enjoy the   36 points   of premium.

The first important acceleration from the group of the best arrives at less than 90 km from the finish: it goes out   Ivan Garcia Cortina   of the Movistar that brings a group of 11 runners including   Alberto Bettiol   from EF, Zdeněk Štybar from Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team,   Ben Turner   of the INEOS Grenadiers, e   Mads Pedersen   of Trek - Segafredo. In the meantime, the group increases the pace, the day's escape loses pieces and the advantage of the fugitives is reduced more and more.

At less than 56 km from the finish the first attack of the big names:   Pogacar   with an impressive acceleration on the old Kwaremont he recovers the fugitives of the day and takes the group of favorites with him, who take the lead. The next step on the Koppenberg does damage: mechanical problem for the winner of the past edition Asgreen who loses ground. Up front they accelerate and take advantage of 5: they are there   Pogacar, Van der Poel, Madouas, Van Baarle   And   Wright.

The decisive thrust of the champions arrives on the third and last passage on the old Kwaremont 17 km from the finish: the initiative takes it again   Pogacar , this time he answers only   Van der Poel   and the two go alone to the finish line. It is decided in the sprint: the two study each other a lot, perhaps too much, they practically re-enter   Madouas   And   Van Baarle . 250 meters from the finish   Pogacar   loses the time of the shot,   Van der Poel   accelerates and wins by power ahead of   Van Baarle   And   Madouas .

The order of arrival:

1 VAN DER POEL Mathieu - Alpecin-Fenix

2 VAN BAARLE Dylan - INEOS Grenadiers

3 MADOUAS Valentin - Groupama - FDJ

4 POGAČAR Tadej - UAE Team Emirates

5 KÜNG Stefan - Groupama - FDJ

6 TEUNS Dylan - Bahrain - Victorious

7 WRIGHT Fred - Bahrain - Victorious

8 PEDERSEN Mads - Trek - Segafredo

9 LAPORTE Christophe - Jumbo-Visma

10 KRISTOFF Alexander   - Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux           

© Photo Sprint Cycling

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