"The advantage for Mathieu van der Poel was enormous” - Sven Nys criticises race motorbikes in Tour of Flanders final kilometres

Despite a valiant effort, Mathieu van der Poel was unable to chase down Tadej Pogacar in the final kilometres of Sunday's Tour of Flanders. This is in spite of the fact that in the opinion of ex-pro Sven Nys at least, the Dutchman was being given unfair aid by the race motorbikes.

“That motor between Oude Kwaremont and Pater, that is really not possible," complained Nys, who retired from professional racing in 2013, on his own official Twitter account. "The advantage for Mathieu van der Poel was enormous.”

"Stick to grand tours please" - Mathieu van der Poel has cheeky request for Tadej Pogacar after Tour of Flanders

As mentioned, despite the "enormous" advantage, van der Poel was unable to close the gap to the eventual race winner, Tadej Pogacar. Nevertheless, van der Poel was more than happy to keep up his brilliant early season form with another podium finish.