It's now two monuments from two for Alpecin-Deceuninck in 2024. After Jasper Philipsen's victory at Milano-Sanremo earlier in the season, Mathieu van der Poel triumphed on Easter Sunday at the Tour of Flanders.
One of those riding in the service of the world champion on the day was Gianni Vermeersch and according to him, the tactic of the Alpecin-Deceuninck team was played out to perfection. “It is very cold, but we had a fantastic race. We are riding a perfect race with the team," he delightedly told Wielerflits post-race. "We've had it under control the whole time. We had a good day. Attempts were made from all sides. For example, the Visma's tried to break it open early, but after that we were left with one man every time.”
Doing a good job marking the attacks, Vermeersch even found himself up the road for much of the day after having followed a move by Mads Pedersen. When things came all back together though, van der Poel emphatically moved clear himself, leaving all his rivals in the dust.
“It was clear to me that he was good when he flew past us on the Kwaremont. Then I knew. We had to step off on the Koppenberg and he just powered on," Vermeersch continues in awe. "I was able to stay on the bike, but a few men in front of me were already on foot. If you want to slalom between them, that is certainly not possible anymore.”
