Mathieu van der Poel is ready for Pogacar and Flanders - E3 Saxo Classic sees dominant win from Dutchman as Van Aert struggles

Mathieu van der Poel won Milano-Sanremo and today at the E3 Saxo Classic he showed the exact same level. The defending champion won the build-up race to Flanders with style, comfortably dropping his rivals and taking home a stellar solo win.

The race began with a large crash which involved or blocked many riders in the peloton and left a group of around 50 riders in front which accelerated the peloton. There were a few very dangerous riders in front and the gap to a peloton where Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen and Filippo Ganna were grew to around 2 minutes even.

However at a certain point this began to come down, and it was closed as the riders entered the final 110 kilometers, the crucial part of the race. Aimé de Gendt and Casper Pedersen launched a well-timed move, as soon they would be joined by the three riders who made a move on the Taaienberg. After INEOS Grenadiers pushed the pace hard, Mads Pedersen attacked and took Mathieu van der Poel and Filippo Ganna with him.

The five collaborated well until the Oude Kwaremont where van der Poel would launch a decisive attack, dropping his rivals. Pedersen and Ganna would chase individually, the duo behind trying to resist for a Top 5, whilst a group of 4 including Matteo Jorgenson were amongst the first that were coming from the peloton.

The race ended exactly as predicted for the final hour as van der Poel comfortably cruised to the finish, winning with over a minute of a gap over Pedersen in the rain, whilst Filippo Ganna was third.