Glowing Van der Poel thanks Vermeersch and father Adrie, and says ‘sorry’ to Pluimers

“This was a goal for us as a team, because we had never won Omloop before. It feels really good that I can win straight away on my first attempt,” Van der Poel beamed afterwards in the organisation’s flash interview. He later added in Dutch: “I’m really happy — and the team is too — because this one wasn’t on our list yet.”

But it certainly wasn’t just a routine tick-box exercise, because Van der Poel found himself in a pretty awkward situation on the Molenberg. Rick Pluimers went down right in front of him, and it was a minor miracle that Van der Poel didn’t go over the top. “I want to say sorry to Rick, because I think I almost rode over his head,” he said. “I couldn’t really avoid him, and I hope I didn’t hurt him.”

That crash involving Pluimers proved decisive on the Molenberg. “Luckily I found my pedal again quickly, and at the top I got back to Florian, who was really strong today as well,” Van der Poel explained. “That was the decisive moment in the race. I didn’t see what happened behind me, but I assume it was total chaos there. There was immediately a big gap.”

Vermeersch, Van der Poel and the connecting Tim van Dijke quickly opened up a minute on the peloton, and that indeed turned out to be the race-winning move. The eventual winner was full of praise for Vermeersch, who went on to take third place for UAE Team Emirates–XRG. “I’ve known Florian for a long time and I have huge respect for him,” said Van der Poel. “That respect is even bigger after today, because he was incredibly strong — and he always races to win.”

“He got rewarded with a podium, because he was the driving force in the front group,” Van der Poel continued, admitting he hadn’t even noticed Vermeersch struggling with his gears on the Kapelmuur. “I was focused on myself, also because it was really slippery. I had to put out a lot of power — and I was alone at the top — so from there it was full gas all the way to the finish line.”

At the top of the Kapelmuur, Van der Poel was on his own with 16 kilometres still to go. It was father Adrie who provided him with crucial information there. “He shouted that I had 16 seconds,” said Van der Poel. “That was useful, because I didn’t know my advantage at that moment — so it gave me an indication. He also tried to hand me a bottle, but I didn’t really need it.”

With Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in the bag, the final question was whether Van der Poel would also make his Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne debut on Sunday. The grin on his face said plenty. “We’ll decide that on the bus on the way back to the hotel, but there’s a chance I’ll race, yes.”