Sublime Season Start by Van Der Poel in Omloop Nieuwsblad

Mathieu van der Poel made a dream debut in the Omloop Nieuwsblad on Saturday, becoming the first rider in 25 years to win the race on their first attempt.

Van der Poel echoed the achievement of Michele Bartoli with what was a sublime display, making a decisive move on the Molenberg with two others, riding across to the day’s break and then dropping those riders at the start of the legendary Muur van Geraardsbergen with 16km to go.

He powered up the cobbled ascent and went over the summit 16 seconds ahead of Florian Vermeersch (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Tim Van Dijke (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Van der Poel had 38 seconds with 11km to go and was 1:06 ahead of the peloton. Those gaps were almost exactly the same with 3km to go and he raced on to victory in his first road race of the season.

Van Dijke won the sprint for second, 22 seconds later.

“I am very happy myself, and the team is undoubtedly too,” Van der Poel said. “This one was not yet on our list [of victories].”

Once clear, he said his father Adri van der Poel—another former winner of the Tour of Flanders—shouted to him that he had a 15 second lead. “That was important, because I didn’t know what my advantage was at the time.

“It’s fun to finish it off like this. I like to drive across the Muur. I have already won beautiful races there and it also helps that the tailwind was in the final. That worked in my favor.”

In what is an interesting stat, Van der Poel is vying to be the first rider in history to win Omloop Nieuwsblad and the Tour of Flanders in the same season. Most riders would be worried about the lack of precedent but, for Van der Poel, it is simply another challenge to try to overcome.

Strong lineup, but even stronger Van der Poel

Although Wout van Aert missed the race due to illness and Tadej Pogačar is yet to compete, there was still a very strong field at the start in Gent. Van der Poel got top billing, even if he hasn’t ridden the race before, while others tipped for successes included Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step), Mathew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike), Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin – Premier Tech), Biniam Girmay (NSN Pro Cycling), Arnaud de Lie (Lotto-Intermarché), Tim Wellens (UAE Emirate XRG), and last year’s winner Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility).

They would face 13 cobble sections, including the famous Muur van Geraardsbergen and the Bosberg.

Jelte Krijnsen (Team Jayco AlUla) sparked off the day’s early break when he pushed clear alone with just over 200km to go. He was joined 30km later by Alexis Renard (Cofidis), Clément Alleno (Burgos Burpellet BH), Vincent Van Hemelen (Team Flanders-Baloise), Alexys Brunel (TotalEnergies) and these were 3:50 ahead with 140km remaining.

Behind, key riders faced delays due to mechanicals and crashes, with Pidcock, Magnier, Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) and Philipsen all losing energy in trying to return.

The break was 1:05 ahead with 50km to go, and begun the climb of the Molenberg five kilometers later. Vermeersch was first of the peloton to reach the climb and rode solo to the summit, with Van der Poel sitting third in line as the ascent began but having to put his foot down to avoid crashing when Matteo Trentin (Tudor Pro Cycling) fell.

Van der Poel caught Vermeersch at the summit and they were joined by Van Dijke with 43km to go. They caught the break one kilometer later and from there Van der Poel did the bulk of the work in driving the break onwards towards the Muur.

He was clearly strongest and simply rode the others off his wheel there, opening an immediate gap and then holding it all the way to the finish.

The race showed off the huge fitness he built through a win-filled season of cyclocross racing plus additional endurance training at his base in Spain.