Whilst van der Poel and Pedersen were clear up ahead, there wasn't much separating the duo from the peloton in which, van der Poel's teammate,
Jasper Philipsen was laying in wait, giving
Alpecin-Deceuninck a tactical conundrum to consider.
“You have to make a decision at some point. As world champion you also want to ride in that situation, and Jasper doesn't win the sprint either,” van der Poel explains. “So that's always easy to say. I had to ride there and give it a try.”