<\/p>\n
Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n Mathieu van der Poel rides away on the Muur van Geraardsbergen. His breakaway companions are out of the picture and from here on the result felt inevitable.<\/p>\n Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n What colours do you associated with Belgium? Black, yellow and red are on the flag. Football fans will say the \u201cred devils\u201d. But for cycling fans the palette is grey, brown and green. Muddy fields, barren trees and brown brick homes sit under leaden skies. Watching the Sporza coverage Helicopter shots of houses with solar panels suggest wild optimism. Of course summer happens in Belgium too, it\u2019s just that\u2019s rarely televised.<\/p>\n After one early move failed, five got away in Cl\u00e9ment Alleno (Burgos-BH), Alexys Brunel (Total), Alexis Renard (Cofidis), Vincent Van Hemelen (Vlaanderen-Baloise) with Jelte Krijnsen (Jayco) who had been in the first move. Forlorn? With hindsight they all had foresight as Renard would hold out for a top-10 and precious UCI points, while Krijnsen and Vincent Van Hemelen salvaged a top-20.<\/p>\n Finishing today meant surviving and one feature of this year\u2019s edition were the multiple crashes with riders going down like pins in a bowling alley strike. The \u201cnew\u201d course was supposed to split the field up but it was more a tweak than a radical redesign. Either way the race didn\u2019t open up early. You could see the stress in other ways as flags slapped in the wind and a compact peloton raced hard into the danger points . At times the course was less cobbled sectors and more a wooden chopping block as riders were butchered. Others had mechanicals and other problems, game over for the likes of Tom Pidcock, Paul Magnier and Jasper Philipsen with over 60km to go.<\/p>\n Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n Kasper Asgreen took a flyer on the Wolvenberg but he was by himself and his move didn\u2019t have the effect of poking a wasps nest. Instead the decisive point came on the Molenberg with 46km to go. Florian Vermeersch was lead out by his team and went hard. Behind Tudor\u2019s Rick Pluimers led the chase but he wiped out on a corner, his back wheel jack-knifed and in one pedal stroke he was floored. Mathieu van der Poel was on his wheel but swerved like the Matrix\u2019s Neo around Pluimer\u2019s head. Van der Poel even unclipped his left foot but you needed slow-mo to spot this as he reconnected with the pedals and turned on the power in an instant. Red Bull\u2019s Tim van Dijk managed to stay in contact. Behind others lost the race in this split second. A Visma rider unclipped too but halted, this blocked others and the gap formed as Van der Poel, Vermeersch and Van Dijk were clear.<\/p>\n Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n The trio bridged across to the breakaway and the lead five suddenly got what they\u2019d dreamed of as they were able to hitch a ride on the race-winning move, albeit only for a while.<\/p>\n Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n Visma tried to chase but they were down on riders and few other teams had numbers to chase. Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9 were helping too until a crash took out Arnaud De Lie.<\/p>\n Geraardsbergen\u2019s Muur came and Van der Poel didn\u2019t attack, he just rode away as the slope kicked up on the way out of town leaving Vermeersch and Van Dijk to race for second place.<\/p>\n Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n The Bosberg as the final climb is often home to suspense. Not necessarily decisive but a place where doubt can still exist and opportunities can be seized. Can the solo rider hold on? Can the breakaway riders make it? Would a move here work? This time it hardly featured and looked like a mere cobbled boulevard on the way to Ninove.<\/p>\n Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n The Verdict<\/strong> Van der Poel\u2019s swerve around Pluimers helped to set things up but had Pluimers stayed upright the result would have probably been the same given the Dutchman was in position and primed to move. Maybe a Visma rider would have been able to join the attack? Otherwise there were few moves, and alas a lot of the action came because of crashes rather than attacking.<\/p>\n Van der Poel will know nobody has ever won the Omloop and Ronde in the same year. These anecdotes tend to interest the media more than riders but with his first win in this race now done, his big goal has to be the \u201choly week\u201d double of the Ronde and Roubaix.<\/p>\n Van Dijk was satisfied with his ride and it\u2019s his best result in a classic. Better still it feels as if we\u2019ve already seen more of Red Bull on the cobbles than last year. Vermeersch gets his first podium in a spring classic too.<\/p>\n Christophe Laporte came in for fourth place and the \u201cchocolate medal\u201d ought to taste good after a long absence from Flemish roads. His Dutch team came up empty but looked strong collectively and without the Molenberg mishap they could have shaped the race more.<\/p>\n Finally a mention of events 800km to the south. Paul Seixas won the Faun-Ard\u00e8che classic. The main climb of the day was the Mur des Royes, a backroad version of the Col de Gazareau and it was here with 45km to go that Seixas gradually rode the field off his wheel before dropping last witness Matteo Jorgenson with 41km remaining. He rode the final hour solo for the win.<\/p>\n
No surprises. Marec, Nieuwblad\u2019s cartoonist had it right, this morning\u2019s newspaper sketched Van der Poel sitting alone at the finish<\/a> with time to read the newspaper. Van der Poel made it look as easy in real life, escaping when the field slowed down behind, then appearing to ride away in Geraardsbergen.<\/p>\n