Tour of Flanders 2023 men’s race – Tadej Pogacar makes history after getting the better of Mathieu van der Poel

Scores of riders are down after a massive crash brought the peloton to a standstill. Julian Alaphilippe, Peter Sagan, Tim Wellens, Ben Turner and Jasper Stuyven are among the many, many riders on the deck. Wellens, in particular, looks in a bad state. This will be the end of his race.

The advantage of the eight leaders pushes four minutes now as the main field takes a breather from that frantic start to the race, which saw them cover around 100km in two hours. The next climb is the first of three ascents of the Oude Kwaremont - in around 15km. The race is now passing through Oudenaarde, the finish town renowned for its superb Tour of Flanders museum and its quaint market square.

That's a blow to Wout van Aert's chances as Tosh van der Sande slides off a corner in a tangle with two Bingoal WB riders. He looks a bit bashed up but will get back on his way soon.

Following the arrival of reinforcements in Merlier and Ritsch, their gap has swelled to 1'15" as the seven escapees hit the cobbled berg of Korte Est, the first of 19 hellingen in this race. The peloton is riding piano now so it seems like there's been a truce of sorts for now, hence the growing of the gap.

Soudal-QuickStep send Belgian champion Tim Merlier up the road in pursuit of Jonas Rutsch of EF Education-EasyPost, who was the first to leave the pack on the cobbles. Behind, UAE and Jumbo-Visma have send men in pursuit in Trentin and Van Dijke, which is interesting. The five leaders still have a small gap on the pack, with the first climb - or hellingen - coming up soon.

The first climb of Korte Est is still a few kilometres away but the riders are now onto the short 200m section of cobbles at Wannegemdorp. The five leaders have a slender gap of 16 seconds over the peloton.

Could this be the move that sticks? For once it's more than a single rider, but the gap is still very small - although with four riders now trying to bridge over, a force of eight could well have too much not to stay out for a bit. And one of those chasers manages to join the fray, so we have five out ahead now. They are Jasper De Buyst (Lotto Dstny), Daan Hoole (Trek-Segafredo), Elmar Reinders (Jayco-AIUIA), Filippo Colombo (Q36.5) and Guillaue van Keirsbulck (Bingoal WR).

Marco Haller, who I thought went down earlier - it was in fact Bora team-mate Van Poppel, who retired - is among a cluster of riders really pushing for a gap now following the capture of lone ranger Federov. But it looks increasingly like there won't be a breakaway now before the first selection happens on the cobbles. The speed of this race is incredible - a whopping 48.7kmph since the start.

The Belgian breakaway specialist Taco van der Hoorn clips the curb and hits the deck for Intermarche-Wanty-Circus. Kim Heiduk of Ineos was held up in the ensuing the tangle, while on the other side of the road a rider from Astana also hit the deck. Nasty fall that for Van der Hoorn, who may not be able to continue.

It's Yevgeniy Federov who has managed to extricate himself from the peloton. He's decked out in full arm-and-leg-warmers combo - a reminder of the chilly conditions out there today. A handful of riders are trying to bridge over.

That move from Jacobs was neutralised as the peloton move to within 25km of the first section of cobbles, the short climb of Korte Est (0.5km at 4%). Trek, Cofidis, Movistar, TotalEnergies and DSM are all on the nose of this strung-out pack - but the longer a move doesn't go, the more the dynamic of this 107th Ronde changes.

It's the Swiss Johan Jacobs who has opened up a small gap on the peloton, which is back together after the Pogacar chase group managed to bridge back over. Jacobs had a Lotto rider and Taco van der Hoorn chasing him down but they threw in the towel once joined by others. He ploughs a lonely furrow off the front but the gap is now growing so unless he's joined soon this move will come to nothing.

There's another split in the peloton following that crash and it's Tadej Pogacar's turn to have a fight on his hand. The Slovenian is riding in the second peloton now - but has UAE Team Emirates team-mate Tim Wellens with him, and many others. Very nervous and cagey. Meanwhile, Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe) has abandoned - he was also involved in that crash.

No sooner had the two parts of the peloton come back together than a touch of wheels and some road furniture contributed to bringing down half a dozen riders, including Marco Haller of Bora-Hansgrohe. It's all got quite frenetic - largely because there's still no breakaway. Guillaume van Kiersbulck of Bingoal WB is doing his best to change that with a solo foray off the front.

212KM TO GO: VALENTIN MADOUAS ABANDONS

The Frenchman came third last year and he was in that second peloton before being dropped once Alpecin threw down the hammer. But he's suffering from illness today, apparently, and has just called it quits. A big blow for Groupama-FDJ, who will now go all in for Stefan Kung.

Xavier Meurisse has joined Dillier and Kragh Andersen to lead the chase for their leader Van der Poel behind. They have managed to reduce the gap to 20 seconds. Meanwhile, on the front of the main peloton two riders had a small gap - one from Lotto Dstny, another from Bingoal WB - but it didn't come to anything.

A fascinating scenario is unfurling with the second peloton - which includes the pre-race favourite Mathieu van der Poel - now 40 seconds in arrears. Word has clearly got out because Soudal-QuickStep have sent Tim Declercq onto the front to push a big gear, and others are lending a hand as well. Some other big names have been caught out including Biniam Girmay, Caleb Ewan, Peter Sagan, Valentin Madouas, Dylan Teuns and Zdenek Stybar. It's Stybar and Teuns' Israel-Premier Tech team who are doing the bulk of the chase, with Alpecin-Deceuninck yet to lend a hand. They have Sylvan Dillier and Soren Kragh Andersen to work for Van der Poel - but the gap is growing and growing.

With the peloton all strung out, a split occurs after some turns into the wind - and all of a sudden we have around 60 riders off the back and needing to close the gap. It will be interesting to see if anyone tries to take advantage of this. For now, it's only that man Oier Lazkano who is trying to up the tempo and apply some pressure. And the gap is growing... and is that Van der Poel on the wrong end of it? This could be interesting.

He's "Meerkatting" as Carlton Kirby says quite regularly. I think that means he's watching guard, or something like that? Anyway, he's on the back of the pack and clearly not burning any matches. Still no break. It's windy but nothing too bad - yet - and there are some damp patches on the road from overnight rain. But dry conditions despite the chill and absence of sunshine.