Gent-Wevelgem For the first time came veldritkampioenen Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel together at the start in a classic. And that was more than good. Both men have graced the course and crowned the champions.
Mathieu van der Poel sprinted to a fourth place. “I’m satisfied about my race, but not about the sprint. I tap twice completely embedded. That is of course my own fault, but you also need a little bit of luck. Twice I had to restrain myself and I touched the speed lost. Otherwise, there was more in it for me”, they said after the race in the studio of Sporza.
The Dutchman was with crosscollega Of Aert in the first range. “It was very hard to move forward,” says our compatriot. “You had the what can be expected, because in the neutral zone, there was a lot of nervousness. In Gistel then came that crack.” Van der Poel still had to pull out all the stops to slip. “I made the leap, but such a speed I have not seen much. The pace was immense. The first half of the course, I have already seriously between my framework is hung.” The wattages were also sky-high: in this way, Van Aert an average wattage of 325 watts recorded over the whole course. “That is 100 watts more than Milan-Sanremo. There was a half-hour is tricky, but after a long ride.”
“It was a real race today”, went From Aert further at VTM. “A spicy day. Really a lot of surplus I had, otherwise I had to try to win. I felt good, especially on the Kemmel. The first time was important to a little forcing, to perform. The second is so short and steep that you have to drive to get up the hill. That gives confidence. I am proud of our ploegprestatie today. Danny van Poppel is fifth, but that is not what we deserved. Good to see that everyone with extra confidence driving around. What I’ve learned about the opposition? Not a lot of. Who was good, who was that today also. For me it is pleasant that I was in the fans was good.”
