Hans Vandeweghe: ‘Even a good Wout Van Aert could not have beaten Van der Poel today’

Hello Hans. What did you think of this edition of the Tour?

“It was a very tough match. I cycled today myself, before it started raining. Even then I noticed that there was a lot of wind. There’s nothing wrong with having to ride this course in those conditions. You saw that the riders crossed the finish line like corpses. Also don’t forget: they entered the fastest competition schedule.

“Mathieu van der Poel delivers a phenomenal performance in those circumstances. At 41 kilometers from the finish he drives away on the Koppenberg, where everyone except three has to put foot on the ground. Afterwards he drives away from everyone for two minutes. He did a bit of what he also did in the E3 Prijs Harelbeke with Wout Van Aert: keep the opposition at a distance and then continue on every slope. At the finish there was still one minute of lead left, because he didn’t need more. This was one of Van der Poel’s greatest songs.

“This was a memorable edition, also because Mathieu van der Poel becomes co-record holder of the Tour of Flanders with his third victory. He joins the club of Tom Boonen, Johan Museeuw and Fabian Cancellara, among others. This was Van der Poel’s sixth participation in the Tour of Flanders. He never did worse than fourth place.”

Van der Poel is only 29 years old. Does he have a chance of winning the Tour of Flanders a fourth time and becoming the sole record holder?

“He can indeed continue for another five or six years. If he feels like it, of course. Van der Poel is primarily still a cyclo-cross rider and mountain biker. But no, if he participates next year, he can win again and become the very best in the Tour of Flanders – for what that’s worth. Because let’s not forget the rest of his list of achievements, including Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo.”

Insofar as that was still necessary, Van der Poel has today added himself to the list of the very best one-day cyclists.

“A very good Mathieu dan der Poel is currently the best one-day rider in the world on this type of course. The Tour of Lombardy (a course with a lot of climbing, ed.) he will never win. Even a good Wout Van Aert couldn’t have beaten him today. That is of course difficult to say, but this slippery edition suited Van der Poel.

“Van der Poel is also favorite for Paris-Roubaix next week. It will then rain again and so the cobblestones will be in poor condition. Then he always has an advantage with his technique. Although he will have to recover for a while: he still looked ten years older after the finish.”

Is this edition of the Tour of Flanders not more marked by the absences than by the circumstances?

“Yes, it has been a strange race because of that. Now take Mads Pedersen’s attack with 100 kilometers to go. I don’t know why he did that. He completely exhausted himself.

“With a good Wout Van Aert in the race and Jasper Stuyven at Lidl-Trek, the driving would have been different. Then the teams would have stayed more in blocks, until roughly the last 30 kilometers. Now Van der Poel has had to race more on instinct. Although he did have insight into the course by being one of the first to turn onto the Koppenberg, race up in the saddle and force the rest to make a steering error.”

About Koppenberg: as always, she produces heroic images. Although you can ask the question whether such a slippery slope is appropriate in a race like the Tour of Flanders.

“You can answer that question in two ways. Indeed, I am also inclined to say that such a thing is not possible. Especially if it has rained so heavily, the organization could decide to remove the mountain. For example, the Koppenberg is the reason that Bernard Hinault never wanted to come to the Tour. That street is actually called Steengat: it is really a hole where they have thrown stones. They are in bad shape. Your rear wheel then spins. Because of the overhanging trees it is always humid, even in summer.

“At the same time, you can see that Van der Poel reaches the top. And moreover, Matteo Jorgenson, who has never seen the Koppenberg and knows no cobblestones, also manages to reach the top. So it is double. It is also no coincidence that Van der Poel goes there: he knows he has to drive away from there. Wout Van Aert had also known that and he too had reached the Koppenberg. They know that mountain from the cross.”

Also striking: Flanders does not like Van der Poel.

“The last passage on the Kwaremont was embarrassing for Flanders. I rewound the footage: a group of four people pour pints one after the other over Van der Poel. That’s a shame. That man delivers the performance of his life, in a world champion’s jersey. The images are there: they should identify those people, give them a huge fine and prevent them from buying another ticket.

“Half of Flanders loves him, the other half doesn’t. It is double: Van der Poel drives for a Belgian team, speaks Flemish and lives in Flanders. Van Aert, on the other hand, drives for a Dutch team. Yet half of Flanders hates Van der Poel because he beats Van Aert. A good Van der Poel is always better than the best Van Aert. That stings some people. We also saw that with Cancellara and Boonen at the time.

“Fortunately there was no problem on the way to the Paterberg, on that mountain and afterwards. The audience always applauded Van der Poel there.”

After the finish, Michael Matthews was declassified because he allegedly swerved too much during the sprint. Justifiably?

“I follow the judgment of experts such as Greg Van Avermaet and Jan Bakelandts. You can’t say Matthews is bothering anyone. In the images you can see that the rider behind him is not yet on his rear wheel. I think we can speak of an overzealous jury member who has had to deal with too much rain and wind himself. Shame for Matthews.”

Lotte Kopecky did not win the Tour of Flanders.

“No, the Italian Elisa Longa Borghini was the best in the race and won the sprint convincingly with three. Kopecky did not ride up the slopes as usual, which was especially noticeable on the Koppenberg where she had to put her foot down without any reason to do so. Afterwards she recovered and worked hard to come back with a chasing group. It is not clear what was going on there along the way. The cold and the rain perhaps, the women had rain the entire match. Or a hunger pang, but Kopecky has a lot of experience in that area.”

What does this Tour of Flanders predict without a Belgian or Belgian on the podium for next week?

“Lotte Kopecky will be back at the appointment for Roubaix, unless something else is going on, such as illness. She has made that competition her main goal. And among the men, Van der Poel is the big contender. That competition is usually fairer. Mads Pedersen is the big outsider.”