Wevelgem (Belgium) (AFP) – Mads Pedersen achieved what seemed unachievable at the start of Ghent-Wevelgem: beating world champion Mathieu van der Poel to win this Flandrian classic for the second time, Sunday in Belgium.
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The Dane from the Lidl-Trek team managed to follow the Dutchman’s attacks and beat him in the sprint after a long mano a mano in the lead, the Belgian Jordi Meeus finishing third in front of the other sprinters who claimed victory.
“ It’s 50-50, if Mathieu van der Poel starts first and I’m a second late, that could be enough for him, so the last thing I wanted was for him to start the sprintexplained Pedersen after the race. I’m good at long sprints. »
In 2020, the 28-year-old rider took advantage of excessive marking between Van der Poel and his lifelong rival, Belgian Wout Van Aert, to win Ghent-Wevelgem. His victory of the day, he owes only to himself, to his panache, to his resistance to the wind, to the Flandrian mountains and to the stony paths.
Very early on, Pedersen appeared as the first competitor to the favorite Van der Poel to raise his arms at the end of this 253.1 kilometer race. 84 kilometers from the finish, he was right behind the Dutchman when he attacked on the first climb of Kemmelberg, the famous Flandrian mountain and the main difficulty of the course.
Lidl-Trek still in numbers
The Lidl-Trek team was then in a strong position, since its leader Pedersen was accompanied by Jasper Stuyven, already at his advantage on the roads of E3 on Friday, and Jonathan Milan, in a group which also included Laurence Pithie, Rasmus Tiller and Tim van Dijke.
“ Mathieu is one of the biggest stars in cycling (…) so if you want to beat him, or guys like Wout Van Aert and Tadej Pogacar, you have to be in numbers, put them under pressure », commented the winner.
Van der Poel, impressive winner of E3, however, wrung out his competitors one by one: Tiller and Van Dijke gave up and Stuyven punctured when the Alpecin rider placed a second attack on the winding and stony paths which give a Strade Bianche tune to this classic.
But every climb has its truth. The second ascent of the Belvédère slope of the Kemmelberg (1,500 m, 6.6% average, 16% maximum) was not the scene of a new attack from Van der Poel. On the contrary, Pedersen seemed the strongest with 52 kilometers to go.
This scene was repeated 34 kilometers from the line, on the third climb of the Kemmelberg – on the Ossuary slope this time, the steepest (700 m, 10.4% average, 21.1% maximum).
Isolated, the duo of world champions embarked on a time trial exercise up to Wevelgem to resist the return of the peloton, which included the most dangerous sprinters: Jasper Philipsen, Van der Poel’s teammate, or again Tim Merlier, Jordi Meeus, Olav Kooij, etc.
In the sprint, Pedersen finally overcame Van der Poel, thus climbing the largest mountain in this Flandrian region.