Van der Poel’s E3 power numbers show his level may be even better than it looked

Van der Poel looked outstanding in the hilly section of the race. He followed Tim van Dijke when the Dutchman accelerated on the Taaienberg, after which the pair bridged across to a chasing group. Despite the strength in that group, Van der Poel dropped everyone on the Boigneberg. That meant his biggest rivals were already forced into the chase with 65 kilometres still to go.

One of the riders up the road at that point was Timo Kielich. He was caught out on the Boigneberg and had no choice but to let the superstar go. Speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws Kielich explained that he had not expected Van der Poel to make his move there so early, thinking instead that things would stay together a little longer, with Edward Planckaert doing the work.

Pepijn Reinderink’s account says even more. The Dutch rider from Soudal Quick-Step had done well to make it into the strong outsider group, but when Van der Poel went, he immediately felt the gap to the very top. Reinderink said Van der Poel came across to them and accelerated straight away, and that even while pushing somewhere in the region of 800 to 900 watts, he still could not hold the wheel.

Edward Theuns, himself a proven Classics rider, also had to let Van der Poel go as he flew past. The Belgian said he briefly thought he might survive, because he could already see the flatter section ahead, but around fifty metres before reaching it he had to sit down. He added that there was no shame in that, because he had pushed 700 watts for a full minute while sitting in Van der Poel’s wheel.

That says a great deal about the Dutchman’s level. Theuns explained that his personal best for one minute is 850 watts, but under fresh conditions. In E3, the riders had already been racing for three hours. Even with that 700-watt effort, he was still blown off Van der Poel’s wheel.

After the hilly zone, where Van der Poel had clearly been the strongest rider in the race, he began to suffer badly. Fatigue hit hard, and the chasers closed in quickly. He just held on to his advantage, which made it look as though he was weakening. The data from the winner suggest otherwise.

What do the numbers show? In the final 90 minutes of the race, Van der Poel averaged 446 watts, as he revealed on his own Instagram. Far from being a sign of weakness, it pointed in the opposite direction. According to the article, these were the best values Van der Poel has ever recorded for a 90-minute effort. That is an ominous sign for the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.