Mathieu Van der Poel beats Tiesj Benoot to win thrilling edition of Dwars door Vlaanderen, Tadej Pogacar tenth

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.

Ad/> Briton’s Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) showed a return to form by sprinting to third place ahead of Belgium’s Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal) as the remainder of the select leading group came home five seconds in arrears after a pulsating final 10km to the 183.7km race from Roeselare. /> Dwars door Vlaanderen'He's got them in his sights' Tadej Pogacar attacks at 63 km left of Dwars door VlaanderenAN HOUR AGO Tour of Flanders 2022: Who’s riding? When is it on TV? Can Pogacar rival Van Aert on cobbles debut? Van der Poel, 27, admitted he went “pretty deep” in the finale as he looked to finesse his form ahead of Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, the second Monument of the season.

“I felt good but for sure I was not the strongest in the leading group,” he said. /> An early five-man move went up the road after 30km of racing ahead of all 13 of the day’s cobbled climbs, with the rangy German Nils Politt (Bora-Hanshrohe) the stand-out presence in what was the third of four races of so-called Flanders Week.

Behind, the peloton exploded on the seventh climb of the day, the Berg Ten Houte, with 70km remaining when Pidcock was joined by Ineos teammate Ben Turner in a strong six-man chase group that also included Van der Poel, Benoot, Campenaerts and the Swiss time trial specialist Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ). Riding his first