Friday's E3 Saxo Classic showed that we certainly weren't wrong in predicting a battle between Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert this spring. Their duel was the main story of the race, and Mathieu came out on top again in the end, which will put more pressure on Wout ahead of the Tour of Flanders.
Van Aert's collision with Paterberg's car completely changed the course of the race and was understandably the focus of much analysis afterwards. With his turning skill, he felt like he could easily switch between smooth gutter and gravel, but he ended up falling. I don't know if it was a mistake or just bad luck for Van Aert, but it was very expensive.
It's interesting because it also highlighted a key difference for me between the Tour of Flanders and other races in this part of the world. There are a lot of barriers on the Ronde route, and this means that there is more clarity about where you can ride and where you cannot ride. Often, including on Paterberg, it is not possible to ride in the gutter due to barriers. The route is more “stable”, and I'm all for that.
I was standing on the Tiegemberg at the end, so I got a good close-up view of Van der Poel and Van Aart as they made their final climb of the day. I could see the exhaustion on Van Aart's face at that point, and it's hard to say whether it was because of the effort he had to put in after the accident or because he wasn't at his best after his recent hike. camp.
Either way, I think it's clear there's a lot of pressure on Foote now in this rivalry with Van der Poel. He hasn't won the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix yet, and there are all these expectations on him in Belgium and that's not easy to manage.
It's not just a question of whether Van der Poel is stronger or not. There is also a mental aspect that we cannot overlook. When your confidence is high, when you are in the “flow,” your confidence is higher, and these races feel easier. Legs and condition are one thing, but mental fatigue is a big factor in these races as well. We can sometimes forget what a huge difference the mental aspect can make here.
In this sense, the win in Harelbeke was a big message from Van der Poel to his rivals for the rest of the spring, because he not only showed his strength, but also his experience and confidence in these races. When he goes, some riders may already be thinking about racing for second or third place.
We can see different riders trying to anticipate Van der Poel at different points, including Auer Lazcano. There was an explosion of attacks, and the chaos was intense at times. Then Matthew came and brought order to the chaos by attacking at the most important point and deciding the entire race over Paterberg. He had the confidence and experience to know exactly when to make a move, whereas a less experienced rider like Lazcano doesn't have that knowledge yet, which is understandable.
Van der Poel is impressive because he has a very clear idea of what he wants to do in racing. He has a proper plan. He knows when he wants to attack and when he wants to follow up. We saw that in the way he accelerated at Teenberg, which was a decisive moment. That was the point where the race really started, and it was Matteo's efforts that set the tone for everything that followed.
However, it is difficult to read too much into the gap that Van der Poel opened over Van Aart in Tejenberg, simply because they are two different riders with different styles. Matthew is the guy who gets out of the saddle and just goes – bam, bam, boom – while Woot is a rider who likes to take this type of climb seated and do longer, steadier accelerations.
The question mark I have about Van Aert relates to his preparation. He's come back from a three-week high camp looking lean, but I wonder if he's missed a race or two to get fit again – and get his confidence up, too. Van der Poel started his season at Milan-San Remo only last weekend, but he was up to speed straight away. He continues this way in Harelbeke and I'm sure he will impress Gent-Wevelgem as well.
However, Van Aert will have Dwars Vlaanderen's door in midweek to help him prepare for the Tour of Flanders, and perhaps his idea of skipping races like Tirreno-Adriatico will eventually pay off when we get to Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Maybe this new way of doing things will work.
He should have more teammates around him in those races, given that Wout wasn't the only Visma-Lease A Bike rider to have bad luck yesterday. We also don't know what the weather will be like either. This may be a factor in his favour.
Above all, we must remember that no one is unbeatable in a classic tournament. You can always find ways to win a race against a strong competitor – by anticipating them, isolating them, and getting creative. It's happened to me in the past in classics. There were times when I was so strong, but I became isolated. In the end, you are not a machine, you are just a human.
Valuable experience for Tudor Pro Cycling
I'm in Belgium at the moment with the Tudor Pro Cycling team and we had another great learning experience at E3 Harelbeke, so this is all part of our progress. We lost a result because Matteo Trentin had a problem with his shoes after he loosened his shoes to avoid a minor accident, and in the end, he had to change his shoes.
Mathieu admitted he was never the same mentally when he had to stop and chase again after changing his shoes, which is all part of racing in Belgium.
There's your physical condition on the one hand, but there's also the mental aspect that I was talking about, and it can affect anyone. It's always a big battle, the race in Belgium.
But up until the moment that happened, I think we raced appropriately. We had people helping Matteo and Marius Mayrhofer, taking them to the places they needed to go. We have seen Tudor up front in important moments, and this is crucial for them to gain confidence in the things they will do in the future.
It was unfortunate for Matteo, of course, but it could have been much worse if he had been in an accident. He will go again to Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday. We all will.
Harelbeke was not the best day for results, but we took another big step in terms of our experience. We are a team that is still developing, and that is what matters to us now.
We've also had to make some late changes due to accidents and illness, so we don't have the full line-up we had planned for these races, but the boys are still in good shape. Sometimes they feel frustrated, but they see the reality of these races. This is invaluable for the future.
Join Cyclingnews for live coverage of Spring Classics 2024and check in after each race to get the full report, results, gallery, news and features.
“Food ninja. Friendly thinker. Explorer. Entrepreneur. Zombie junkie.