Van Aert sensed Van der Poel had Philipsen in mind: “That made the difference”

It would have been a dream finale for the organisers, but above all for the fans, if Van der Poel and Van Aert had managed to stay clear. “Apparently my oldest son was disappointed too,” Van Aert laughed afterward to Sporza. He himself had already begun to fear the worst. “You could feel it coming a little in the finale, because the peloton was closing very quickly.”

It certainly was not down to the 31-year-old from Herentals. Van Aert blew the race apart with an acceleration on the Kemmelberg and then managed to follow Van der Poel when the Dutchman launched his own move. It created a dream scenario. “The feeling was good. I could follow Mathieu on the final passage of the Kemmel. I thought we had a really good chance of staying away, but in the end it just didn’t work out.”

The two rivals have faced each other often enough over the years, but doubt has rarely played a role between them. This time, the fact that Van der Poel still had a sprinter behind him turned out to be decisive. “The cooperation with Mathieu was good, but he had the luxury of still having Philipsen behind him, so he could race a bit more defensively in the end. That worked to my disadvantage and made the difference.”

Even so, Van Aert had no reason to be disappointed with his ride. It had been a while since the all-rounder had animated a race in this way, and that is an encouraging sign with the Tour of Flanders now approaching fast. “I’m happy with the way I raced. The result didn’t follow, but it was still a good day.”