“No, I only heard that after I started" - Mathieu van der Poel denies Wout van Aert crash inspired his race-winning attack at E3 Saxo Classic

In the end, Mathieu van der Poel took a somewhat dominant solo victory at Friday's E3 Saxo Classic, victorious by 1:31 over his nearest rival.

Although van der Poel had attacked many times during the race, opting for an ultra-aggressive style, it wasn't until relatively late on that the Dutchman was finally able to rid himself of his old rival, Wout van Aert, who up until that point had been stuck to the world champion's back wheel. The reason for van Aert's absence... an untimely crash on the Paterberg, something van der Poel insists he wasn't aware of.

“No, I only heard that after I started the Kwaremont," van der Poel explains in conversation post-race with Wielerflits. "Afterwards he came on very strong, which I expected. I was busy assessing my own effort. It was still a long way to the finish and the wind was not really favourable yet.”

Van Aert almost pulled off a miraculous comeback, getting to within 10-15 seconds of van der Poel before fading back and eventually finishing 3rd. “I had the impression that he would join us, but on the difficult last climb I pushed hard again. Of course, I know he's playing all or nothing to get back in the wheel," van der Poel recalls. "The combination of Paterberg and Kwaremont also appealed to me. Then you get some pretty thankless roads to ride on. Like I said, I think I had to judge my effort well and I did that.”