"The 31-year-old Alpecin rider finished in 4hr 53min 55sec, over 20 seconds ahead of fellow Dutchman Tim van Dijke and the Belgian Florian Vermeersch. The 207km route contains much of the Tour of Flanders roads, and the riders took on 12 hills and eight cobbled sections."
"On one of those cobbled climbs, the Muur of Geraardsbergen, Van Der Poel dropped the whittled-down main pack and set off in pursuit of an early breakaway around a minute up the road. He caught them within 4km and rode confidently away from them."
"The former road race world champion entered the classic on the back of a record eighth cyclo-cross world title where he was unbeaten all winter."
Mathieu van der Poel claimed victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, the season-opening cobbled classic, by attacking 16km from the finish line. The 31-year-old Alpecin rider finished in 4 hours 53 minutes 55 seconds, winning by over 20 seconds ahead of Tim van Dijke and Florian Vermeersch. Van der Poel made his decisive move on the Muur of Geraardsbergen cobbled climb, dropping the main pack and catching an early breakaway before riding away confidently. The 207km route featured 12 hills and eight cobbled sections typical of Tour of Flanders terrain. Van der Poel entered the race unbeaten throughout the winter after securing his record eighth cyclo-cross world title.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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