Mathieu van der Poel conquers cobbles to claim dominant third Tour of Flanders crown

Updated 31/03/2024 at 17:55 GMT

In the absence of Tadej Pogacar and Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel decimated the field to win a record-equalling third title at the Tour of Flanders. It was the Dutchman's fifth Monument crown in an illustrious career – although he still needs Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Tour of Lombardy to complete the Grand Slam. He will now head to France as he seeks to defend his Paris-Roubaix title.

Men's race highlights - Van der Poel tames rain, wind and cobbles to triumph

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Deceuninck) put on a cobbles clinic to land a supreme third title at the Tour of Flanders.

With defending champion Tadej Pogacar focusing elsewhere in 2024 and Wout van Aert ruled out after a nasty crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen, Van der Poel was the overwhelming favourite – and he delivered on that tag in style.

He blasted away on the Koppenberg with 45km remaining as many of his rivals were forced to walk due to the gruesome inclines, with Matteo Jorgenson (Visma–Lease a Bike) the only rider close to the Dutchman at the summit.

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But Van der Poel quickly distanced the in-form American as he ripped away to a stunning solo win in the rainbow jersey, becoming the seventh man to win Flanders on three occasions.

Van der Poel quickly stretched his gap to over 90 seconds in an awe-inspiring demonstration of the gulf in class between the Dutchman and the rest of the field.

Behind, Jorgenson was quickly hoovered up by the chasing pack as the battle for second and third went down to the wire.

Dylan Teuns (Israel–Premier Tech) and Alberto Bettiol (EF Education–EasyPost) had looked set to fill out the podium but were cruelly caught in the final 100 metres of the race by Jayco AlUla's Michael Matthews, who fought back brilliantly having seemed out of contention for much of the final stages.

He sprinted to the line with Luca Mozzato (Arkea-B&B Hotels) but it was the Italian who just snatched the runner-up spot in a photo finish. Matthews misery was compounded when he was demoted from third to 11th for dangerous sprinting, with Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) moving onto the podium.

Riders forced to WALK up Koppenberg as Van der Poel blasts clear

But they were all in a different class to Van der Poel, who joins an elite group of riders to claim Tour of Flanders victory in the rainbow bands of the reigning world champion.

The only moment that Van der Poel's supremacy looked in serious doubt was with 100km to go when Alpecin briefly lost control of the race and a group of 10 strong riders disappeared into the distance.

The Dutchman appeared unable to respond but his team-mates eventually hauled the break down while Van der Poel's biggest pre-race rival Mads Pedersen (Lidl–Trek) spent an hour dangling just ahead of the chasers, which cost the Dane dearly when things really kicked off and he eventually finished outside of the top 10.

It's unlikely he could have done anything to stop Van der Poel though, who now holds the joint-most De Ronde wins in history, joining six other riders including Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara who have taken hat-tricks.

"It was just about surviving today, it's the hardest one I've ever ridden with this weather," an exhausted Van der Poel said at the finish.

"The last 20km was almost with my eyes shut, I was so fatigued I didn't even think about it. The rain made the cobbled climb so hard, the Koppenberg was ridiculously hard - I was just slipping and sliding all the way to the top. With this wind it was pretty far to go alone, at the end the keg was empty."