Mathieu van der Poel is back! Alpecin star makes winning return to the road at Le Samyn 2025

Mathieu van der Poel has made a triumphant return to the road, taking victory at Le Samyn 2025 in a dominant uphill sprint ahead of Soudal - Quick-Step youngster Paul Magnier.

After his last-minute change in programme to open his season at this race, all eyes were on Mathieu van der Poel at the startline. Once the racing began though, eight riders managed to form the breakaway, getting some attention of their own, including British teen Sebastian Grindley from the Lidl-Trek development team.

With 65km to go though, Van der Poel himself launched an attack from behind, and although he was brought back relatively quickly, the acceleration in pace brought the peloton breathing right down the necks of the break. With 55km to go, that catch was complete. Soon after, Van der Poel tried another testing attack, but perhaps proving he wasn't yet at his best level, the former world champion proved unable to split things.

By 35km to go though, a nine-man move did eventually manage to get separation at the front of the bunch, including notable names such as Lewis Bower, Samuel Gaze, Taco van der Hoorn, Martin Svrcek, Cedric Beullens, Thomas Gachignard, Axel Heuns, Noah Vandenbranden and Killian Theot. Although they had managed to get over a minute advantage relatively quickly, the lack of true cooperation in the lead group and the desire of teams such as Uno-X Mobility to chase ensured the attackers were only 25 seconds clear by the time the final lap began.

Disastrously for Arnaud De Lie, bad luck struck once more this season for the Belgian national champion, as he had an ill-timed mechanical to put him out the back of the peloton at 18km to go. At the front meanwhile, things all came back together at around 15km to go, with those who had attacked being swallowed up by the bunch.

Luca van Boven, Alec Segaert and Timo Kielich launched the next attack, and the trio were narrowly dangling out ahead of the peloton heading into the last 5km of the day. All three were caught by the final cobbled section though and despite big pressure at the front of the bunch, there were no further attacks before the finale, leaving an uphill sprint to decide the day. In the fight for the line, Mathieu van der Poel opened things up, and despite Paul Magnier's best efforts, there was no stopping the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader.