E3 Saxo Classic 2024: Showdown of the cycling giants: Van der Poel wins first duel against van Aert

The eagerly awaited first clash between Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) in this year's classics lived up to its promise. The two exceptional riders fought an impressive duel in the E3 Saxo Classic, in which van der Poel had the better end and van Aert even had to give up second place, which he had thought was safe.

E3 Saxo Classic 2024: Wout van Aert crashes on the Paterberg

The race-deciding scene took place 43 kilometres before the finish on the Paterberg. Van der Poel attacked, van Aert caught himself on the edge between the turf and the cobblestones and crashed. Van der Poel pulled away on his own.

Although van Aert was able to fight his way back and initially also outpace the remaining rivals on the Oude Kwaremont, van der Poel won the subsequent chase over around 40 kilometres. Van Aert literally collapsed in the final kilometres and was caught by Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek). The final duel between the two Belgians for second place was won by Stuyven.

I thought I would need a few more races to get back to this level. I hope I can now recover until Sunday, because I was really exhausted at the end - Mathieu van der Poel in the winner's interview

E3 Saxo Classic 2024 - Results: the top 10

1. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 4:39:15
2. Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) +1:31
3. Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) +1:34
4. Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) +1:48
5. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) +1:50
6. Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) +1:52
7. Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) +2:48
8. Toms Skujins (Lidl-Trek) +2:48
9. Vincenzo Albanese (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +2:48
10. Alex Kirsch (Lidl-Trek) +2:48

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How the E3 Saxo Classic 2024 went

Shortly after the start, there was the first mass crash in the peloton. Among those involved were Alberto Bettiol (EF Education EasyPost), Luke Rowe (Ineos Grenadiers), Dylan van Baarle, Per Strand Hagenes (both Visma | Lease a Bike) and Alexander Krieger (Tudor Pro Cycling Team). Strand Hagenes and Krieger had to abandon the race shortly afterwards, as did Clement Russo (Groupama-FDJ) and Christophe Noppe (Cofidis). It took a long time before a breakaway group was able to break away.

Three German riders in the breakaway group

Two German riders then made it to the front: Emil Herzog (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Jannik Steimle (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team). Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar) was also at the front of the race. Niklas Märkl (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) was another German pro in a seven-man chasing group. He caught up with Mathis Le Berre (Arkea-B&B Hotels), Sander De Pestel (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Remi Cavagna (Movistar), Ivo Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) and Jelle Vermoote (Bingoal WB) shortly afterwards.

Visma | Lease a Bike, EF Education EasyPost, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Lidl-Trek tried to set the pace in the peloton, which allowed the breakaway to pull away by a maximum of around 4:30 minutes.

Favourites set off 80 kilometres before the finish

The race among the favourites began 80 kilometres before the finish. Mathieu van der Poel started on the Taaienberg. Neither Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) nor Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) were able to follow. A larger chasing group formed behind the road world champion, in which several riders from Visma | Lease a Bike were represented. This was probably one of the reasons why van der Poel abandoned his endeavour and allowed himself to be caught by the group around van Aert, which comprised around 25 riders. Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) initially missed the breakaway on the Taaienberg, but was able to catch up with the group of favourites a little later.

A phase of ambushing began there, which ended with an attack by Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal - Quick Step). However, the Frenchman's attack fizzled out and was countered by Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek). The Dane prepared to ride to the front of the breakaway group. Behind him, the sprint began. Van der Poel attacked again, caught Pedersen, but had Matteo Jorgenson and van Aert in tow. The rest of the group also came back, so that around 30 riders were together again.

Runaways are caught up

Up to the Stationsberg - around 60 kilometres before the finish - the favourites' group continued to go back and forth, drawing ever closer to the breakaway. Oier Lazkano (Movistar) threw down the gauntlet to the favourites again on the Stationsberg, countered by van der Poel and van Aert. The two exceptional riders surged to the front towards the first breakaway riders, who were caught 56 kilometres from the finish.

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While van der Poel would have liked to move on with van Aert, the Belgian had no interest in teaming up with his rival, so it all came back together before Lazkano, Ivo Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates) and Matteo Jorgenson crept away and caught up with the remaining breakaway riders around Jannik Steimle and Niklas Märkl.

Politt and Küng sneak away

Nils Politt and Stefan Küng followed suit and made it to the front. Behind them, Lidl-Trek organised the chase with four riders. On the Kapelberg, around 47 kilometres before the finish, Lazkano broke away from the leading group, which was caught by the chasers around van der Poel and van Aert shortly afterwards.

Lazkano took a small lead into the infamous Paterberg, which is up to 20 per cent steep. A dramatic scene unfolded there. Van der Poel attacked again, van Aert slipped away when he tried to switch from the grass to the cobblestones and crashed. This meant that van der Poel was on and away, while van Aert was quickly back on his bike, but first had to plough his way through the group of favourites.

Van der Poel pulls away alone - chase with van Aert

Van der Poel had quickly pulled out around 30 seconds on the chasers, who first had to regroup. Visma | Lease a Bike, UAE Team Emirates and Lidl-Trek now joined forces to chase down van der Poel. This co-operation did not last long. On the Oude Kwaremont, van Aert attacked and continued the chase alone. What followed was an individual time trial: Mathieu van der Poel against Wout van Aert. On the flat, the Belgian rider sucked metres and metres out of van der Poel's grasp, closing the gap to ten seconds. However, the tide turned again on the E3 Col Karnemelkbeekstraat. Van der Poel turned up the heat on the climb and took a few seconds off van Aert again.

Behind them, the remaining riders in the chasing group were divided. Biniam Girmay, Jasper Stuyven, Matteo Jorgenson, Tim Wellens and Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) formed the quintet that initially fought for the last remaining place on the podium, which would later change.

Van der Poel extends his lead, van Aert collapses

At the front, it became increasingly clear that van der Poel was stronger than van Aert. The Dutchman extended his lead to 25 seconds, and 15 kilometres before the finish it was already 50 seconds in the now rainy conditions.

Van Aert now literally collapsed. Six kilometres before the finish, he was caught by Jasper Stuyven, who had broken away from the chasing group. Van Aert quickly gave up the fight for second place and left it to Stuyven.

Politt sprints to seventh place

Behind them, Wellens, Jorgenson and Narvaez battled it out for fourth place. Wellens came out on top ahead of Jorgenson and Narvaez. Behind them, Politt won the sprint of the next group and finished seventh after a strong race.