Mathieu van der Poel delivered another commanding performance on the cobbles of West Flanders, attacking solo on the Oude Kwaremont to win the E3 Saxo Classic for a second year running. The Dutchman used the climb to shake off Mads Pedersen and Filippo Ganna, riding alone into Harelbeke to back up his Milan-San Remo win and underline his status as the pre-race favourite for the Tour of Flanders.
The day started with chaos, as a crash just 20 kilometres into the race brought down several riders and split the peloton in two. Soudal-QuickStep lost three riders—Gil Gelders, Jordi Warlop and Dries Van Gestel—all taken to hospital, while Kevin Vermaerke of Picnic-PostNL also abandoned. More critically for the race, a host of key riders, including Van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Filippo Ganna, were caught on the wrong side of the split.
As Groupama-FDJ and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe pressed on at the front, Alpecin-Deceuninck were forced into an all-out chase. They had little choice, with their leader three minutes down and the peloton averaging over 53kph in the opening hour. By the time the race hit the Kanarieberg, the two groups were close to merging, and Van der Poel’s teammates had dragged him back into contention.
The situation reset briefly, but not for long. With 80 kilometres remaining and rain beginning to fall, Lidl-Trek began to push the pace into the Taaienberg. Mads Pedersen launched a fierce acceleration on the cobbles, and only Van der Poel could immediately respond. Ganna bridged across shortly afterwards, and the trio caught earlier escapees Casper Pedersen and Aimé De Gendt.
It was a high-powered breakaway that quickly gained time on the fragmented chase behind. Matteo Jorgenson, Josh Tarling, Jasper Stuyven and Stefan Küng were among those trying to bridge across, but the front group was working too efficiently. On the Paterberg, the selection began. Pedersen pushed again, with only Van der Poel and Ganna able to stay in contact.
The decisive blow came on the Oude Kwaremont. Ganna was the first to hit the cobbles, but Van der Poel surged past at the base and never looked back. Pedersen dug in to hold the wheel, but by the midpoint of the climb, the elastic snapped. Ganna, despite his strength, simply couldn’t follow on the steeper sections and was left to chase alone. By the summit, Van der Poel had 17 seconds over Pedersen and another 13 on Ganna.
From that point on, it was a solo time trial to the finish. Despite greasy roads and a near-miss on a corner, Van der Poel held his gap and even extended it. The Dutchman crossed the line in Harelbeke with more than a minute in hand over Pedersen, taking a dominant win built not just on physical strength but also sharp tactical awareness.
Photo Credit: Cor VosReactions: confidence and frustration behind the result
The manner of Van der Poel’s win was as much a reaction to the race situation as it was to the legs. After being delayed behind the early crash, he had watched as teams like Groupama-FDJ and Bora drove the pace at the front. His Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates were left to chase for more than an hour, and that shaped his mindset heading into the final.
He later made clear that he wasn’t happy with how some teams reacted to the crash, saying it wasn’t fair play to race flat-out while half the bunch was held up. He felt the responsibility to finish off the job for his team, and once he was back in contention, he rode like it.
On the Kwaremont, he hadn’t planned to go solo so far from the finish but knew he had to make the final difference there. With strong winds and nearly 40 kilometres still to ride, the move carried risk—but once the gap opened, he committed fully.
Behind, Mads Pedersen was realistic about the outcome. He had opened up the race on the Taaienberg, taking the initiative when others hesitated. He was the last rider able to follow Van der Poel, but on the Kwaremont, he simply couldn’t hold the wheel. Despite the gap growing steadily, Pedersen kept chasing to secure second place—his best-ever result at E3.
He said that when Van der Poel went, it was impossible to follow and once the gap was there, it just kept growing. Even so, Pedersen saw positives in the result. He had strong legs, and the longer, harder races to come—especially the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix—should suit him better.
Photo Credit: GettyFilippo Ganna, meanwhile, took his second major podium of the spring after finishing second at Milan-San Remo. He admitted that he simply didn’t have the climbing ability to stay with Van der Poel and Pedersen on the cobbled gradients. Ganna gave everything on the flat run-in, even thinking at one point he might collapse if he pushed harder. He was satisfied with the performance, though, and proud of how well his Ineos team had supported him throughout the race.
Josh Tarling and Ben Turner had played key roles in delivering Ganna into position before the decisive moves, and with Paris-Roubaix on the horizon, Ineos are quietly optimistic. The team hinted he might yet ride the Tour of Flanders too.
Visma-Lease a Bike, by contrast, left Harelbeke with more questions than answers. After being caught behind the early crash, their riders expended huge energy getting back to the front. Matteo Jorgenson took ninth place, but both he and Wout van Aert missed the move on the Taaienberg and were left chasing for the rest of the race.
Jorgenson explained that he’d tried to bridge back with a small group rather than wait for the second peloton to reform, a decision that cost him later. By the time the key move went, he was out of position and had nothing left to follow.
Van Aert, racing for the first time since an altitude block, was further back on the decisive climb and never made an impression on the race. He finished 15th and admitted post-race that he had missed the moment, stuck around 20th position on the Taaienberg when the key trio rode away.
Despite the challenging day, both riders suggested there were lessons to take forward. Gent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders will give Visma more chances—but on this showing, they’ll need to be sharper if they want to match Van der Poel.
2025 E3 (Harelbeke) Saxo Classic result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Main photo credit: Getty
