“How I stayed upright on the Molenberg? I don’t know myself” – Mathieu van der Poel survives miraculous crash scare to win Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on debut

The defining moment of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2026 did not come on the Muur van Geraardsbergen.

“How I stayed upright on the Molenberg? I don’t know myself,” he admitted afterwards. “A Tudor rider crashed in front of me, and I couldn’t avoid him, so I half rode over him. I hope I didn’t hurt him. My foot came out of the pedal, but luckily it clicked back in quickly. I didn’t see what happened behind me, but I assume there was a lot of chaos there. When I came over the top with Florian, we had a big gap, and afterwards that turned out to be the moment of the race.”

He was right.

The crash on the Molenberg shattered the peloton’s cohesion at exactly the point Florian Vermeersch had forced the decisive acceleration. Van der Poel reacted immediately, bridging across under pressure, and Tim van Dijke joined to form the core of what became the winning move.

Behind them, riders were delayed, split or left chasing after earlier chaos on the Eikenberg, where mechanical problems and punctures had already disrupted several contenders. Paul Magnier lost time after two bike changes. Jasper Philipsen punctured. Tom Pidcock was distanced. The race never truly reset after that sequence.

What might have been a routine positioning battle instead became the structural fracture of the race.

By the time the leaders approached Geraardsbergen, their advantage hovered around fifty seconds. The chase had reorganised, with major teams contributing behind, but a heavy crash in the peloton further blunted momentum at a critical juncture.

The elastic had stretched too far.

Florian Vermeersch led onto the Muur van Geraardsbergen, but Van der Poel seized control between the Vesten and the steepest ramps of the Kapelmuur.

The acceleration was immediate and clean. The remaining early escapees were dropped. Vermeersch attempted to respond but could not hold the wheel. Van Dijke fought to limit the gap, yet Van der Poel crested alone.

“That Florian had problems with his gears? I didn’t hear that. I only saw that I had a small gap when I reached the top. I was just focused on riding as carefully as possible because it was very slippery on those cobbles. I didn’t notice anything about that.”

From there, the race was reduced to a measured solo effort over the Bosberg and into Ninove. His lead stood at roughly thirty seconds on the Bosberg and extended toward forty as the chasers struggled to organise fully.

“I like riding on the Muur. I’ve won some beautiful races there and also on the Vesten. It’s a climb I enjoy, and it also helped that there was a tailwind towards the finish. Nice. There was quite a lot of wind all day, and we had bad weather.”

Vermeersch and Van Dijke fought to secure the remaining podium places, a reward for their aggression on the Molenberg and their commitment in the final hour.

“I’ve known Florian for a long time, and I’ve always had a lot of respect for him. After today, even more, because he was extremely strong. He always rides to win, which is great to see, and he’s rewarded with a podium. He was one of the driving forces of the leading group.”

For Van der Poel, the victory had not been part of a defined target.

“I’m very happy with this victory, and so is the team. This one wasn’t on our list, so we can be very pleased with today.”

At the first attempt, he added the Flemish opener to his Classics record, turning a near-disaster on the Molenberg into a perfectly timed triumph on the Muur.

And as for Kuurne - Brussel - Kuurne the following day?

“Nothing has been decided yet. The plan was to wait and see how today went. We’ll decide later on the bus to the hotel, but the chance is there.”