Tom Boonen believes "the best Van der Poel ever" is head and shoulders above the rest for Flanders, including Tadej Pogacar
Cycling
Mathieu van der Poel has won the Tour of Flanders on three occasions, and is matched with several of cycling's history-makers as the record holder. One of the others, Tom Boonen, believes there are very big chances that the Dutchman will become the first rider in history to win 'De Ronde' four times and is above Tadej Pogacar going into the race.
"Is the Tour victory record in immediate danger? Absolutely. Records are there to be broken," Boonen stated clearly in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws. "In a way it is nice that someone like Roger De Vlaeminck has trouble with that – I still regret not being able to wrest that from him for Paris-Roubaix – but if they hold up forever, something must have gone wrong in the past.”
Boonen won on three occasions back in 2005 and 2006, and then had to wait six years to take a triumph once again in 2012. Van der Poel in the meantime won his first eight years later in 2020, and has then won in 2022 and 2024 - whilst in 2023 he was beaten fair and square by the Slovenian.
Although there are a few tremendously talented riders coming into Flanders with great form, it seems difficult that on the climbs anyone will be at the level of Pogacar and van der Poel, who already at Milano-Sanremo proved to be the strongest uphill. However Boonen surprisingly understates the chances of the World Champion winning the race, and instead is very confident that the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider will be the one to do it.
"Mathieu is head and shoulders above the rest," Boonen argues. "Especially after what we saw from him last Friday in the E3 Saxo Classic. I have never seen him so strong before, this is the best Van der Poel ever as far as I am concerned. He exudes courage and self-confidence. When you blast up the Cipressa and Poggio together with Pogacar in Milano - Sanremo without blinking for a second…”
“I saw Tadej pull his face for the first time in his life. Although he may not have been the best version of himself after his crash in the Strade Bianche. Hopefully that has been corrected in the meantime," he concluded.
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💥 Get ready for the 109th @RondeVlaanderen this Sunday!
— Alpecin-Deceuninck Cycling Team (@AlpecinDCK) April 4, 2025
Mathieu van der Poel, our 3-time winner and defending champion, is prepared for another epic showdown. Mathieu and teammates are focused and ready to tackle the iconic cobbles and Flemish hills.
As always, MvdP is… pic.twitter.com/BC6X7nmRb9
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