Mathieu van der Poel "doesn't like to let that loss happen" after second placed finish at E3 Saxo Classic

Alpecin-Deceuninck's Dries De Bondt was full of praise for teammate Mathieu van der Poel despite the Dutchman losing out to Wout van Aert at E3 Saxo Classic, although he admits van der Poel will be hurting.

“We raced well as a team. We had everything under control, with a very strong Søren Kragh Andersen. We can look back very satisfied, but the icing on the cake may be missing," says the 31-year-old Belgian. “But he doesn't like to let that loss happen, does he. He will say: on to the next. He will also be satisfied with the team's work. It was tactically good."

After such a thrilling race, it all came down to a frantic, tactical, three way sprint between van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogacar. "You can always win or lose that sprint, so that is no different. The team leaders will be satisfied," De Bondt reassures.