No review of the cobbled classics can start without mention of the Dwars Door Vlaanderen crash that took Wout Van Aert out of the big two races of the last 10 days.
Van Aert had been soundly beaten by his main rival Mathieu van der Poel in E3 Harelbeke after a long rainy pursuit but this high-speed collision left us wondering how close he would have got in both Flanders and Roubaix.
With in form Lidl/Trek riders Mads Pedersen and Jasper Stuyven also downed on an inauspicious piece of Flandrien highway, the latter taken out of the rest of the classics like Wout, we went into the first Sunday of holy week with MVDP the clearest of favourites.
Pedersen made the start banged up and bandaged and made the race with a long-range attack showing that taking the race to the Alpecin team was the only way to avoid a procession.
The Ronde was still a decent watch despite the eventual inevitability of the outcome.
It’s the best race of the year in my eyes. When the commentators say that you must experience the Ronde once in the flesh, at the side of the road, they are right.
There is an atmosphere like no other at this race. It creates memories that stay with you forever and each year that passes names like Koppenberg, Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg become further etched into lore.
Does it help that my memories of riding the RVV cyclo in 2015 are topped up by Rouvy events that mean I can recreate the efforts of getting up those climbs from the relative comfort of my turbo trainer?
Maybe.
It also evokes the whole Flemish cultural strength that is so strong and is something I wish could be recreated here in the UK.
It’s a part of the world people are proud to be from and show off its good side. Something, sadly lacking in this isle.
Back to the race as once the rain started ahead of the climb of the Koppenberg there was a dusting of soft mud covering the climb once you got into the trees.
Ivan Garcia Cortina was off the front at this point but managed to slip to a halt before having to run up the rest of the steep gradient.
He is in good company. I have run up that one myself (see below from RVV cyclo 2015)
MVDP never misses a chance to show his cyclo cross skills and took off with a snaking back wheel still pushing massive power down.
And that was that.
He romped up the Kwaremont and Paterberg for the final time before settling into a rainy ride over the flyover away from the famous hillside, before jamming right and on towards Oudenaarde and the finish.
The chasing riders almost closed to within a minute as the Dutchman tired but it was never in doubt.
An incredible performance by Mathieu who joins the greats in having won the big one in the world champions rainbow jersey.
Barely had he hopped off his bike at the finish line before lifting it sky high above his head that people were talking of the following weekends Paris-Roubaix and whether anyone could stop him from doing the double.
Spolier. They couldn’t.
His whole Alpecin/Deceuninck team swarming the front of the race from the first sector of cobbles with over 160km remaining.
It was as complete a classic performance as anything the Quickstep team has ever managed.
The less said about the likes of Mapei and Gewiss/Ballan the better here…
There was much hype about a dead turn in the road that had been added to the course at the start of the Arenberg forest but in reality the race got round it with ease before hitting the most famous cobbles of the race.
The race was in pieces with a leading group of around 30 and almost 100km still to ride.
MVDP was in the prime position and attacked with 60km to go riding to a 3-minute lead before heading into the velodrome.
Once he was clear the race was in no doubt. He was gone and stayed gone.
I made the Roubaix Velodrome – August 2023
Jasper Philipsen won the reduced sprint for second to ensure back-to-back 1-2’s for the team in the “Queen of the Classics”.
Was it an epic edition?
Probably not. The race result had no suspense whatsoever. But it takes nothing away from the athletic performance of Mathieu van der Poel.
In 20 years’ time we will look back on this cobbled classic season as one dominated by the Dutchman.
I honestly feel privileged to have seen him ride in the flesh.
As always in cycling, with great dominance comes a volume of questions.
Just as Tadej Pogacar was winning the Volta e Catalunya we have lots of theories about how these two riders can be dominant.
Dodgy Doctors and miracle treatments are never far from our sports narrative and it would be foolish not to raise your eyebrows at some of the record average speeds this spring so far.
But that’s up to the UCI to make sure their testing and checks are as rigorous as needed to ensure these wins and performances are trusted and long lasting.
We now move on to the hillier Ardennes week before an early start to the Giro D’Italia (as its Olympic year)… It finally feels like winter is over (but don’t look out of the window to check as its pouring again).
Fendrien 