Matteo Jorgenson may be biggest rival in Flanders, but does he believe he can beat Mathieu van der Poel? "He is supernatural"

Matteo Jorgenson has found himself in the unlikely position of being the sole Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader into the Tour of Flanders and being Mathieu van der Poel's biggest opponent. With this in mind, he and Tiesj Benoot share his thoughts ahead of the climax of Flandrien racing.

"I was really bored with the thought that I had a major cause in the fall. Wout's explanation was different than what I thought. In the end it was just an incident. Through all the stories I can form an image of what happened," Tiesj Benoot shared with In de Leiderstrui at this afternoon's press conference. "You ride to a point where no one wants to brake. Wout doesn't know exactly what happened, but he would find it strange that he would have tapped my wheel. He was extremely focused."

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Benoot had initially blamed himself for the mass crash that severely impacted the spring classics, but ultimately it was not the fault of someone in specific. "We can race as the underdog. That takes some pressure off the team. But the atmosphere is and remains ambiguous. We all had mixed feelings. But today we went exploring and were able to put our minds completely on Sunday. Wout sent us some messages, which really motivated us," he continues.

The Belgian will be an outsider for Flanders after his strong ride this past Wednesday, and a part of Visma's more modest block into the cobbled monuments. The team is focused and ready to work with the weapons they have at hand including Dylan van Baarle who is also returning to competition. And on van der Poel: "We are not afraid of him, but of course he is a big part of our plan. If you see how he rode on Sunday and Friday, you have to go to the finish without him. Our strength is width, so we have to play that to the fullest."

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As for Jorgenson, who will be the team leader, he is aware of who he will have to face in the way to a monument battle. "It felt good to win in those circumstances. It was nice to bring positivity to the team after all the bad luck." Of course, he was asked about the man to beat Mathieu van der Poel: “He is supernatural. He is super strong and of course the top favorite. Yet anything can always happen. I like to choose a tough competition. Then I'll be just a little bit better."

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