Mathieu van der Poel's defeat against Mads Pedersen not key for Flanders, Alpecin-Deceuninck manager argues: "There is no shame in being beaten by Mads Pedersen"
Cycling
Alpecin-Deceuninck came away with second in both the sprint for victory and podium at Gent Wevelgem, a disappointing result at the end of the day but one that is not critical ahead of the Tour of Flanders says team manager Philip Roodhoft.
“It would have been nice if Mathieu [van der Poel] had won, but I think we can and should be satisfied with today's race," team manager Philip Roodhoft said to Wielerflits following the race. "There is no shame in being beaten by Mads Pedersen. They both rode towards the sprint with an open mind and Pedersen was the strongest there. He tackled the sprint in a sensible way with a high basic speed and started from far enough away.”
The race saw strong tailwinds after the climbs which favoured those who moved during the climbs. It was a full-on race from the start which allowed van der Poel and Mads Pedersen to make the difference. “Mathieu could perhaps have been less generous in the effort along the way, but no one says the result would have been different. I think he rode a good race, which could have been a little less exuberant."
"But we shouldn't necessarily see that as something negative. He also made a big effort last Friday. He didn't win, but in the end only one wins. He would have preferred to win, but he won't be super disappointed. He went out with Pedersen, who rode the race in a very nice and honest way. In an honest sprint he was beaten by someone who was stronger. He will be able to live with that.”
Ultimately, Flanders will be a race with more climbs and more opportunities to make the difference. Van der Poel was head and shoulders above the Dane at the E3 Saxo Classic which had a similar route; but Wout van Aert also looked sharp and at this time all three could go into Flanders almost evenly matched.
“If we see today's Pedersen and Friday's, it's a completely different story. As it happens, after Friday commentators were quite adamant that there were only two favorites for the Tour. Pedersen has shown that that statement can already be thrown in the trash," Roodhoft assures. "Today he has presented himself as a full candidate. This ensures that Lidl-Trek will also take responsibility. Or does that make it harder or easier? We'll see about that.”
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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- I think that they're not really used to dealing with this type of incident in a cyclocross race, and the situation has been magnified because it was a race for a championship title. It's very unfortunate that the race had to be decided in this way.
santiagobenites07-11-2026 - Seriously why do they keep doing stupid things like this. Its one thing to relegate when the placings are minor, when the action is blatant. But when it is ambiguous, why dont they at least take advice from some higher up to avoid embarrassing themselves. This is similar to the Halland goal when his teammate was clearly offside and interfered in play and VAR gave them the goal. if you dont have evidence you cannot convict. Even for doping they have these rulesabstractengineer07-11-2026
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A fantastic day in Flanders Fields! 🫶 #GW24
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