"Mathieu said his shoulder was hurting" - Van der Poel's Flanders crash may have damaged victory chances
Cycling
Mathieu van der Poel was reportedly ill a few days before the Tour of Flanders, and during the race he suffered a crash before the cobbled sectors. Whilst the Dutchman showed his best level, it was understandable that he couldn't match a soaring Tadej Pogacar on the Flandrien bergs. However, how much did the crash actually affect the outcome of the race?
"That definitely takes its toll. I'm afraid it cost a few percent. We intended to get Mathieu well-positioned at the Oude Kwaremont, which we managed to do. But that's racing," teammate Gianni Vermeersch said in words to In de Leiderstrui.
With 126 kilometers to the finish line van der Poel, as well as a few more Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates, Tim Wellens and John Degenkolb - among others - hit the deck at high speed. The former World Champion quickly got up and back on his bike, but he was not fully unscathed from the fall that also saw him having to close a 45-second gap back to the peloton.
"Mathieu said his shoulder was hurting. Understandably, this had an impact," Vermeersch argued. "It takes its toll when you have to make such an effort at that point in the race. I'm not saying he would have definitely won without that crash, but it must have had an influence".
In a race that was then raced to the limit for over an hour over many of the course's climbs, Tadej Pogacar eventually managed to crack the Belgian's teammate whilst van der Poel was left fighting for a spot on the podium. However next week in Roubaix, the balance switches away from Pogacar as the cobbled sectors won't have gradients where he can as easily make the difference. Vermeersch should once again be a key domestique for van der Poel and also Jasper Philipsen, following two years of good results himself.
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🚴🇧🇪 | Oh nee, zware valpartij! Van der Poel valt nooit, maar hier raakt hij betrokken. Al komt hij er nog goed vanaf... 💥💥
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- It was still an incredible debute and winning this race is very much possible for Pogi if gives it a few more years experience. I was wondering if he didn't get good intel from the car and seemed to be trying to attack round the corner or at least apply pressure which it was just not the right place. Maybe the bikes played a part in why he didn't realise himself but I do feel given his stature and being the first ever Paris Roubaix for Poggi, if he needed more support from those around him in knowing the corners that you simply can't take like normal. I remember a gravel lane I took too hard once and it was a gentle turn but if you try to take hard it will throw you. Seems it was pretty common knowledge now for the others in the event but I didn't know and it ended up bloody and bruised all because I wasn't aware of this corner where the normal rules don't apply. I'd suspect similar myself.HoopoeChai14-04-2025
- That's how the finish line camera works
KerisVroom14-04-2025 - What a great Paris Roubaix! Having the best competition always elevates the race.awp14-04-2025
- I love Andrie’s fierce loyalty and dedication to his sonmij14-04-2025
- obviously loads to say about mathieu and tadej, who are now pretty clearly the towering giants of this generation. but i also kept thinking about how, over such a short period of time, Alpecin has become just a staggeringly dominant classics team, and it’s not just the one man show of mvdp. watching jasper phillipsen turn himself inside out to take pressure off mathieu, even for a short while, at a critical stage of the race shows the tremendous unity of this team. winning BOTH milano san remo AND roubaix THREE YEARS IN A ROW?! Damn…OCexile14-04-2025
- Special effects on the spokes?Mistermaumau13-04-2025
- It was definitely exciting but not the greatest race in my opinion. Mechanicals had a lot to do with the result and the race was basically decided by a crash. It was a weird start with not that much drive and fight to form the breakaway and team tactics and moves were pretty weak or non-existent at all.heinz13-04-2025
- So, in the end Martin got real time on the line and actually drop a place in the GC. the spirit of the 3km rule is to save riders that are afected by crashes or mechanicals when these events are not their fault. Some cases where the rider is to "blame" are, for pragmatical reasons, i guess, also covered by the rule. But when you are on the attack in a rolling terrain and you crash, alone, it doesn't make much sense to apply the rule, even if you are in the last km. It's completely different from the situation where there's a big crash in the bunch in the last kms and you get stuck behind fallen riders, for example.heinz13-04-2025
- Those motorbike riders were pretty good at taking that corner, probably fooled him into thinking it couldn’t be so difficult, notice how in comparison, MVDP looks like his bike had ABS. Tadej was close to staying on the bike but he kept hold of his front brake trying to come to a complete standstill, had he eased the pressure to let the wheel roll on a little he’d not have gone over.Mistermaumau13-04-2025
- Always classy towards his rivalsMistermaumau13-04-2025