Roodhooft hails three key signings alongside Van der Poel and Philipsen after In Flanders Fields win

From the very start of the race, the men in blue were alert. After Silvan Dillier had done his usual turns on the front, the team was exactly where it needed to be in the exposed echelon zone. In fact, the splits that opened up there were sparked under the guidance of Mathieu van der Poel and his teammates.

“We launched the echelons in De Moeren, which meant we were really able to race offensively, but also defensively, all day,” Roodhooft explained to IDLProCycling.com of the team’s tactics in that phase.

On the Kemmelberg, Van der Poel then proved strong enough to follow Wout van Aert and ultimately help break him down as well. “Mathieu made it clear in time that it did not have to be for him, so that meant we could start working on that in the peloton early enough. Then the others did not have to keep two options open.”

Roodhooft saw new arrivals Jonas Geens and Florian Sénéchal prove their worth with a strong lead-out for Philipsen. “We still had enough manpower around Jasper, so we were able to guide him well.”

“We’ve had to read a few times that we were weakened,” Roodhooft said. “Florian Sénéchal showed here why we brought him in, and the same goes for Jonas Geens. Tim Marsman also rode another very strong race.”

“Teams like Red Bull and Decathlon had to sacrifice themselves, and then those sprinters are left isolated, which makes the timing more difficult. Jasper’s lead-out was certainly important,” the team boss explained.

“For this kind of work, we have a very good team, and that is something we keep working on. We also know our weaknesses and we try to bring a balanced line-up to the start of every race,” continued Roodhooft, who, for example, saved Edward Planckaert and Tibor Del Grosso — both very strong in the E3 on Friday — for Wednesday’s Dwars door Vlaanderen.

Van der Poel’s role in Philipsen’s victory was also clear, because he was not riding full gas on the front in the finale. “We are never certain of victory, but we communicated well with Mathieu. Everyone could see it was going to be difficult, and Decathlon were very strong. If those chasers come back, then they come back. Mathieu is smart enough as well to know that actually making a clear choice makes things easier for everyone.”

That decision ultimately turned out to be the right one, putting In Flanders Fields on Alpecin-Premier Tech’s palmarès as well. “It is a beautiful race, one that is particularly difficult to win. It is fairly unpredictable and you have a long, hard run-in where you can burn a lot of energy very quickly. There is no fixed pattern to it, and that is what makes it such a hard race to win — but also such a beautiful one.”