"It was unbelievable" - Daan Hoole blown away by speed of Tadej Pogacar on the cobbles

Riding in just his second Tour of Flanders, 24-year-old Trek-Segafredo rider Daan Hoole impressed in helping teammate Mads Pedersen to a third placed finish. However the Dutchman was left speechless by the ease of which Tadej Pogacar covered the cobbles.

"I had to change bikes, my derailleur was broken. Then I saw Tadej coming," Hoole recalls to In de Leiderstrui. "I wanted to time it so that I could catch up with him, but I couldn't. That guy rode so fast, it was unbelievable."

Whilst Pogacar would go on to win the Tour of Flanders ahead of Mathieu van der Poel, Hoole eventually crossed the line in 61st position having given his all in support of Pedersen's succesful quest for the podium.

“Mads had a really strong day, he also rode solo for a long time. It was just a really nice situation that we had that gap, really big gap. In addition, Mads was very strong, and he can of course handle those long races very well," Hoole concluded.