{"id":1852070,"date":"2026-03-27T11:13:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T08:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1852070"},"modified":"2026-03-27T11:13:31","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T08:13:31","slug":"mathieu-van-der-poel-survives-botched-chase-to-win-e3-saxo-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1852070","title":{"rendered":"Mathieu van der Poel Survives Botched Chase to Win E3 Saxo Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2268075386.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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Andrew Hood<\/span><\/div>\n

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Updated March 27, 2026 02:16PM<\/div>\n
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Mathieu van der Poel did what everyone expected and detonated the E3 Saxo Classic with a trademark long-range attack on the Paterberg to rip the race apart with 40km to go.<\/p>\n

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What wasn\u2019t expected is how close a determined chase pushed the Dutch superstar all the way to the final kilometer in a wild finale that will leave everyone wondering how he escaped with the win.<\/p>\n

After carrying a one-minute lead over Oude Kwaremont, MVDP looked gone, baby, gone.<\/p>\n

That is, until Stefan Dewulf, Florian Vermeersch, Jonas Abrahamsen, and Per Strand Hagenes linked up and refused to buckle in a gripping 15km chase that went down to the wire.<\/p>\n

After a gripping pursuit, the quartet pulled within 10 meters to the Dutch superstar just under the red kite but somehow didn\u2019t finish off the job.<\/p>\n

Instead of reeling him in, they started to look at each other.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s all Van der Poel needed to pull off the surprising way to win the \u201cmini Flanders.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cAt a certain moment I didn\u2019t believe it anymore. They almost caught me with 1km to go, but I didn\u2019t want to sprint against them, so I gave it everything,\u201d Van der Poel said. \u201cIn the end, I made it, but it cost blood, sweat, and tears.\u201d<\/p>\n

The chasing four did the improbable to reel in MVDP, but no one wanted to take the final pull to finish off the job, and risk losing the podium.<\/p>\n

Instead, they opened the door for the Dutch ace to deliver the stunning victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt cost a lot of energy,\u201d Van der Poel said. \u201cWith a bit more than 1km to go, the legs were not feeling good anymore, and I saw they were close. I knew if I waited, I would be fifth, because I didn\u2019t have the legs anymore to do a sprint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Van der Poel countered and delivered the three-peat in a way no one could have expected.<\/p>\n

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Taaienberg split<\/h2>\n
\"Mathieu
Van der Poel ramped up on the Taaienberg.<\/span> (Photo: Nico Vereecken \u2013 Pool\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Things went to script all day long in the brutal race to open up Flanders \u201cHoly Week\u201d that carries into next weekend\u2019s Ronde van Vlaanderen.<\/p>\n

Van der Poel pried open the race on the Taaienberg, about 70km from the finish, the cobbled launchpad where Tom Boonen so often lit the fuse.<\/p>\n

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Two groups were already up the road, but all eyes locked on MVDP as the favorites hit the base.<\/p>\n

Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step) led the \u201cbigs\u201d onto the cobbled climb, but Van der Poel was sneaky on the wheel of Tim Van Dyjke (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).<\/p>\n

Van der Poel and Van Dijke opened a gap over a reduced favorites group featuring Christophe Laporte, Mads Pedersen and others. The race was on.<\/p>\n

The duo bridged to the second break, triggering panic behind as the chase hesitated.<\/p>\n

He attacked again out of the group at the Boigneberg at 64km to go, a sharp paved climb, and he was alone to chase the leading break heading toward the Eikenberg.<\/p>\n

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Paterberg attack<\/h2>\n
Van der Poel almost lost after following the script. <\/span> (Photo: ASPER JACOBS \/ Belga \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Things were still going to the super-hero script.<\/p>\n

MVDP continued to power alone, gapping everyone and narrowing in on the leaders, now appearing like deer in the headlights.<\/p>\n

Without Poga\u010dar or Van Aert in the bunch, this was Van der Poel\u2019s race to lose.<\/p>\n

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So far, everything was going to plan as he switched into solo beast mode.<\/p>\n

He surged over the Kapelberg to sweep up the leaders and hit the Paterberg-Oude Kwaremont double with the race already within his grasp. The gap to the peloton stretched beyond 1:10 and growing.<\/p>\n

Van der Poel dropped the hammer on the Paterberg to gap the early attackers for good, and soloed away with about 41km to go.<\/p>\n

Behind it was a race for leftovers. Or so it seemed.<\/p>\n

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Down to the wire<\/h2>\n
\"Mathieu
Van der Poel won the hat trick but it was closer than many expected.<\/span> (Photo: Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stan Dewulf led the survivors of the early break, with Magnus Sheffield and Antonio Morgado leading the best of the rest up the Oude Kwaremont at about 1:10 back.<\/p>\n

Tibor Del Grosso marked the wheels for his Alpecin-Premier Tech leader as Pedersen and others tried to organize a chase.<\/p>\n

From there, it was a 35km individual time trial for MVDP.<\/p>\n

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Something happened that no one\u2019s seen for a long time. Van der Poel looked human. Buffeting winds and a hand injury didn\u2019t help, but Van der Poel wasn\u2019t justing riding away with this one.<\/p>\n

Dewulf found company with Hagenes, Vermeersch, and Abrahamsen and they chipped away at 47 seconds.<\/p>\n

The final cobbles at Varent led into the final climb at Tiegemberg, then it was 19km to the line.<\/p>\n

Van der Poel was nursing his lead at about 40 seconds to the chasers, but the big effort started to pay on the long, flat run back toward the finish.<\/p>\n

Things got interesting as the gap started to come down to the four determined chasers, with a revitalized group coming behind very fast.<\/p>\n

With 8km to go, the gap was down to 18 seconds.<\/p>\n

The Dutchman looked vulnerable, but the chasers didn\u2019t finish him off.<\/p>\n

Finish-line comments suggested that everyone in the chase group was thinking more about saving their legs for the podium than to bring back Van der Poel.<\/p>\n

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That hesitation was all he needed to deliver the win everyone expected, just not in the way that anyone saw coming.<\/p>\n

E3 Saxo Classic results<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Andrew Hood<\/span><\/div>\n

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Updated March 27, 2026 02:16PM<\/div>\n
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[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2268075386.jpg”] Andrew Hood Updated March 27, 2026 02:16PM Mathieu van der Poel did what everyone expected and detonated the E3 Saxo Classic with a trademark long-range attack on the Paterberg to rip the race apart with 40km to go. What wasn\u2019t expected is how close a determined chase pushed the Dutch superstar all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1852070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1852070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1852070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1852070\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1852070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1852070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1852070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}