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.

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.

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 professional race on the Belgian cobbles, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) zipped clear over the summit of the next climb, the Kanarieberg, as the double Tour de France winner looked to bridge over to the chasers.

But Pogacar, who makes his eagerly-anticipated Tour of Flanders debut this Sunday, was soon stuck between a rock and a hard place as the chase-group combined well to keep the Slovenian at bay while gradually reeling in the break.

After ploughing a lonely furrow for 10km Pogacar gave up the ghost and succumbed to the inevitable, the double Monument winner sitting up and waiting for reinforcements ahead of the Knokteberg-Trieu climb. Just as Pogacar slipped back into the UAE train, a touch of wheels right behind him saw Oliver Naesen (Ag2R-Citroen) hit the deck and take down four other riders.

Entering the final 50km the six chasers trailed the break by just 20 seconds with the main pack a further 20 seconds behind. The bridge was finally made on the Hotond climb while 25 seconds behind a six-man chase group formed that included Pogacar, Greg Van Avermaet (Ag2R-Citroen), Jan Tratnik (Bahrain Victorious), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) and Soren Kragh Andersen (Team DSM).

On the front, Politt and the Australian Kelland O’Brien (BikeExchange-Jayco) were the only two riders from the initial break capable of sticking with the leaders, whose gap was up to 45 seconds with 30km remaining. Pogacar joined forces with compatriot Tratnik and Frenchman Madouas but the presence of the latter’s teammate Kung up the road made the task yet more onerous for the two chasing Slovenians.

Van der Poel threw down the hammer on the penultimate climb of Nokereberg but the 22-year-old duo from Ineos Grenadiers snuffed out the threat, Turner and Pidcock combining well together as the race entered the last 20km of what would be a fascinating finale.

Pogacar soon appeared to sit up for a second time in the race as the chasing trio slipped to 45 seconds in arrears, the UAE leader chalking down his day as a massive learning curve ahead of his Ronde debut.

Despite a huge acceleration from Kung near the top of the final climb, the Holstraat, all seven went over together before Campenaerts, driving a monster 58-tooth chain ring, surged clear on the descent. It was Pidcock, seemingly back in form following the digestive issues that stuck during Milan-San Remo a fortnight ago, who led the chase, bridging over with Benoot with 5km remaining.

As ever, Van der Poel was alert to the danger and dragged the others over. Belgians Benoot and Campenaerts went again but Kung and Pidcock combined through the twists and turns of the approach to Waregem. Pidcock went straight past the leaders with 2km to go before Benoot took over the lead. In a flash, Van der Poel joined the man in yellow – not his big rival Wout van Aert, but the next best thing in this race.

Benoot was resigned to taking second place and the former Team DSM rider applauded the winner as he sat up over the line. But it must have been a little nerve-wracking for Van der Poel to know that the Belgian will be riding for his Jumbo-Visma teammate Van Aert on Sunday.

Belgian champion Van Aert, winner of last week's E3, opted not to race on Wednesday as his dominant Dutch team added another second place in Flanders Week after Christophe Laporte in both E3 and Gent-Wevelgem.

Pidcock was rewarded for his aggressive ride with third place ahead of Campenaerts, with Politt completing the top five ahead of Kung, O’Brien and Turner. The Pogacar chase group came home just over two minutes down with the UAE Team Emirates leader setting for tenth place in the wheel of Tratnik.

In the women’s Dwars door Vlaanderen, European champion Ellen Van Dijk (Trek-Segafredo) did her best to cause an upset with a powerful turn on the front. But the Dutchwoman was unable to split the field and Italy’s Chara Consonni (Valcar-Travel & Service) outkicked Belgium’s Julie De Wilde (Plantur-Pura) and Switzerland’s Elise Chabbey (Canyon-Sram) in a reduced bunch sprint for her first win of the season. Britain’s Pfeiffer Georgi (Team DSM) took an impressive fourth place ahead of Italy’s Marta Bastianelli (Team DSM).