DUTCH RIDER MATHIEU van der Poel powered to victory in the Strade Bianche one-day classic men’s cycling race with a solo finish on the Piazza del Campo in Siena on Saturday.
The Alpecin-Fenix team rider pulled ahead on the Via Santa Caterina climb with 740 metres to go and crossed the line five seconds ahead of France’s world road champion Julian Alaphilippe with Colombian Egan Bernal third 20sec adrift.
“Strade is one of the races I really wanted to win,” said van der Poel who clocked 4hr 40min 29sec over 184km in the first big race of the season, around Siena in Tuscany.
In the final gravel road sector of the race, Van der Poel turned on the gas with a monstrous uphill attack with only Alaphilippe and Bernal keeping pace.
The race was played out between the trio, with Van der Poel again attacking with four kilometres to go, before finally losing Alaphilippe and Bernal on the narrow winding streets of Siena.
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The 26-year-old winner picked up his second success this season after the first stage of the UAE Tour following his cyclo-cross victories over the winter with 10 wins including the world title.
“I felt pretty good, I launched an attack on the last gravel section and I came with Bernal and Alaphilippe in the lead,” said van der Poel.
“We did a pretty strong ride the three of us. I felt I had something left in the legs to go all out on the last climb, and amazing to finish it off in this way.
“I think Julian was a bit tired at the end.
“It was especially Egan Bernal who gave me a really good impression in the uphill sections, but I knew that the last section was really something for me.”
There was disappointment for Belgian race favourite Wout Van Aert, with last year’s winner finishing fourth at 51 seconds, the first time he has failed to make the podium in four appearances.
Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia of UAE Team Emirates finished seventh just under a minute behind the winner.
Earlier, Dutch rider Chantal van den Broek-Blaak won the 136km women’s race.
The 31-year-old former road race world champion, riding for Team SD Worx, finished seven seconds ahead of Italy’s 2017 race winner Elisa Longo Borghini of Trek-Segafredo.
Her fellow Dutch teammate Anna van der Breggen crossed in third a further nine seconds behind the winner.
Two-time defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands was denied a third consecutive win, finishing 11 seconds adrift in fourth.
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Dutchman Van der Poel powers to Strade Bianche win
DUTCH RIDER MATHIEU van der Poel powered to victory in the Strade Bianche one-day classic men’s cycling race with a solo finish on the Piazza del Campo in Siena on Saturday.
The Alpecin-Fenix team rider pulled ahead on the Via Santa Caterina climb with 740 metres to go and crossed the line five seconds ahead of France’s world road champion Julian Alaphilippe with Colombian Egan Bernal third 20sec adrift.
“Strade is one of the races I really wanted to win,” said van der Poel who clocked 4hr 40min 29sec over 184km in the first big race of the season, around Siena in Tuscany.
In the final gravel road sector of the race, Van der Poel turned on the gas with a monstrous uphill attack with only Alaphilippe and Bernal keeping pace.
The race was played out between the trio, with Van der Poel again attacking with four kilometres to go, before finally losing Alaphilippe and Bernal on the narrow winding streets of Siena.
The 26-year-old winner picked up his second success this season after the first stage of the UAE Tour following his cyclo-cross victories over the winter with 10 wins including the world title.
“I felt pretty good, I launched an attack on the last gravel section and I came with Bernal and Alaphilippe in the lead,” said van der Poel.
“We did a pretty strong ride the three of us. I felt I had something left in the legs to go all out on the last climb, and amazing to finish it off in this way.
“I think Julian was a bit tired at the end.
“It was especially Egan Bernal who gave me a really good impression in the uphill sections, but I knew that the last section was really something for me.”
There was disappointment for Belgian race favourite Wout Van Aert, with last year’s winner finishing fourth at 51 seconds, the first time he has failed to make the podium in four appearances.
Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia of UAE Team Emirates finished seventh just under a minute behind the winner.
Earlier, Dutch rider Chantal van den Broek-Blaak won the 136km women’s race.
The 31-year-old former road race world champion, riding for Team SD Worx, finished seven seconds ahead of Italy’s 2017 race winner Elisa Longo Borghini of Trek-Segafredo.
Her fellow Dutch teammate Anna van der Breggen crossed in third a further nine seconds behind the winner.
Two-time defending champion Annemiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands was denied a third consecutive win, finishing 11 seconds adrift in fourth.
© – AFP, 2021
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