Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) stormed to a brilliant solo victory in the 2024 E3 Saxo Classic after a series of attacks in wet and windy conditions.
The first of the ‘cobbled Classics’ of 2024 was pitted as another mouth-watering duel between the Dutchman van der Poel and Wout van Aert (Visma–Lease a Bike) with the latter incidentally beating the former into second place last year.
But a blistering ride from the Van der Poel, coupled with a crash for Van Aert on the 203km ride in Flanders, Belgium, effectively decided the outcome several kilometres from the finish.
Van der Poel would throw down the gauntlet with his first attack heading up the Taaienberg with about 80km to go.
Van Aert was in hot pursuit as part of the chasing group which included Mads Pedersen (Lidl–Trek), Jasper Stuyven (Lidl–Trek) and Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro).
World champion Van der Poel would continue to force the issue with two more attacks but his Belgian rival refused to release his grip.
Crucially however, the next Van der Poel attack on 43km came just as Van Aert went to ground on the Paterberg.
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‘He’s down!’ – Van Aert hits the deck as Van der Poel streaks clear
This allowed Van der Poel to peel away and although Van Aert would, quite remarkably, haul him back to 11 seconds at one stage, the race was now his to lose.
As the heavens opened, Van der Poel pulled clear to take the win, eventually finishing some 1’31” ahead of Stuyven in second and Van Aert crossing the line three seconds later.