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It is three weeks since Mathieu Van der Poel returned to racing after several months out with knee and back injuries. After so long away, he and his Alpecin-Fenix employers thought it wise to ease him in with a mere Monument. As you do.
Founded in 1966, the Amstel Gold Race takes place in the hilly Dutch province of Limburg and traditionally marks the point in the calendar where the cobbled classic specialists hand the baton over to the puncheurs and climbers ahead of the Giro d’Italia. Of course, when the best rider in both cobbled classics and hilly classics is one and the same, those boundaries become a little fluid.
Forget that it’s actually closer to a fortnight, so-called Flanders Week lived up to its expectation with four races of high-octane action over the cobbles and Belgian bergs played out under a variety of conditions and featuring some humdinging performances as well as some uncharacteristic wobbles. Here are 10 talking points from a sea of potential takeaways… Ad/> Pendulum shifts from Van Aert to Van der Poel /> Ronde van VlaanderenRonde van Vlaanderen Women highlights as Lotte Kopecky beats Annemiek van VleutenA DAY AGO Forced to sit out the Ronde van Vlaanderen after being struck down by Covid, Wout van Aert had the sight of his rival Mathieu van der Poel winning a second crown in his absence further compounded by receiving an alert from Strava shortly afterwards informing him that the Dutchman had taken his KOM for the key Koppenberg-Steenbeekdries-Taaienberg section.
OUDENAARDDE: Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel won a battle of nerves with Tadej Pogacar to claim the 273km-long Tour of Flanders raced over cobbled hills on Sunday (Apr 3).
Stay tuned for live updates from Felix Lowe Ad/> WHAT IS THE ROUTE? Ronde van VlaanderenVan Aert 'not feeling fit', big doubt for Tour of Flanders31/03/2022 AT 12:01 Starting in Antwerp and ending in Oudenaard, the men’s route is 275.5km long with the first of 18 cobbled sections coming after 100km. The first climb comes at the halfway point with the first of three ascents of the Oude Kwaremont.
Adam Blythe is counting down the seconds to the start of the Tour of Flanders, despite admitting to being gutted by the absence of Wout van Aert. Jumbo-Visma star Van Aert was the strong favourite to take the Ronde for the first time in his career, but he was forced to withdraw after contracting Covid-19. Ad/> Van Aert’s great rival Mathieu van der Poel — the winner in 2020 — has assumed favouritism for Sunday’s face, but it looks wide open and Blythe feels the absence of the Jumbo-Visma star has altered things for his team.
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) is a big doubt for the Tour of Flanders on Sunday with illness. The Belgian is widely considered the favourite for the second Monument of the season on home soil, although he was tipped to face stiff competition from former champion Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix). Ad/> Jumbo-Visma said he will miss a reconnaissance ride of the route on Thursday, just three days before the cobbled classic gets underway.
Mathieu van der Poel’s stellar streak since his return to racing continued on Wednesday after the Dutchman powered to glory in Dwars door Vlaanderen three years after he won his first ever WorldTour event in the same race. The Dutchman from Alpecin-Fenix zipped clear of Belgium’s Tiesj Benoot (Jumbo-Visma) on the home straight in Waregem to take his second win on only his seventh day of racing in 2022.