“They’ve finally understood that”: De Cauwer sees change in peloton after bizarre E3 finale

Van der Poel accelerated across to the front group in the E3 on Friday, and with another acceleration the Dutchman found himself alone at the head of the race. There was still a long way to go and for a long time it looked as though he would make it, but suddenly the chasers had closed to his back wheel. A bit of poker in the finale allowed MVDP to stay just out of reach and seal his third consecutive E3 victory.

They were images we had almost become unaccustomed to seeing. “What we have rarely seen in recent years was real cooperation in the peloton to win the race,” De Cauwer began in his analysis for Sporza. In the E3, that was not really the case yet. “There they let that go, and Decathlon CMA CGM in particular paid the price for it.”

On Sunday, things were different. “Other teams also realised they should have contributed, and then you get this kind of story.” Did the fact that the mighty Mathieu van der Poel was almost brought back on Friday influence the way the bunch thought on Sunday? “Working together on the bike is the key phrase. They have finally understood that in the team cars. Not in the peloton, but among the sports directors. So it is possible after all.”

“We were all surprised on Friday by what we saw,” De Cauwer continued. “Van der Poel was caught — that is how I would describe it, anyway. That just does not happen anymore, does it?” That is why it remains to be seen what this could mean for the rest of the spring. “Now you have to see whether it can also be done against Pogačar. But what we saw is how racing should be.”

Karl Vannieuwkerke did add that the course profile also played an important role. “The E3 was suited to it, just like this race (In Flanders Fields, ed.). In the Tour of Flanders, it is a different story.” De Cauwer added: “If you do not have a Jordi Meeus or a Tobias Lund Andresen, then you are not coming back. It also depends on who is there and what you still have left to play with.”