"I thought I needed a few more races to get to this level" - Mathieu van der Poel surprises himself with classy first win of the campaign at E3 Saxo Classic

Although he was on domestique duty in the finale of his season opener last weekend, helping Jasper Philipsen to Milano-Sanremo glory, Mathieu van der Poel took victory himself on Friday afternoon at the E3 Saxo Classic with a stunning solo.

“The team was incredibly strong today and we always have one goal in mind," said Alpecin-Deceuninck's world champion in his post-race interview, taking a solo win ahead of Jasper Stuyven in second and Wout van Aert in third. "The guys did an awesome job putting me in the front, also with Soren Kragh Andersen who was quite important in the end for me."

As mentioned, this was just the second road outing of the season for van der Poel. Because of this, the immense level shown by the great Dutchman surprised even himself. "I am super happy, I didn’t expect it, I thought I needed a few more races to get to this level," he admitted afterwards. "I hope I get recovered from this one for Sunday [Gent-Wevelgem ed.] because I have to say I was pretty cooked by the end.“