Amazing outcome experienced at 86th edition of Ghent-Wevelgemthe Belgian classic held on a difficult route of 253.1 kilometers long and nine climbs, with cobblestone sections and occasional dirt sections.
Van der Poelwho just won the E3 Saxo Classic, started as a great favorite in the exam, especially in the absence of Wout Van Aert. When it comes down to it, the race becomes an all-out battle for the road champion. It was he who launched as many attacks as his legs allowed the main group to try and lose units, but when push came to shove the Dutchman found himself alone and too cornered, especially by Lidl-Trek’s luxury trident: Pedersen, Milan and Stuyvenwho came down before the final battle after getting a puncture in the rear tire of his bicycle.
The bagpipe sounded and Van der Poel He accelerated, but the Dane stuck to his wheel. Mads Pedersen as well as the New Zealander Laurence Pithie and the Italian Jonathan Milan. Sometimes it seems that the two cyclists of Lidl-Trek (Pedersen and Milan) want to make a Van der Poel sandwich. He defends himself, and again tries his luck in final ascent of Kemmelberg (0.7 kilometers at 11.4%). At this point, he and Pedersen had a margin of 1’06” on their pursuers with 39 kilometers to go.
Final sprint of vertigo
From behind they tried to lasso them, but Van der Poel and Pedersen understood each other wonderfully. The two road world champions (currently Van der Poel and Pedersen in 2019) knew that if they understood each other well, they would have a chance to reach the finish line with enough margin to dispute the victory between them, which happened.
Pedersen was the first to launch the sprint. The force the Dane used was brutal. Van der Poel immediately jumped. He stood up on his bike and with a few big kicks he almost reached Pedersen’s level, until he found that he could not, that he no longer had the strength to argue against Pedersen’s victory, which he repeated in Ghent after his victory in 2020, replaced the Frenchman on the list of winners Christopher Laporte.
They both embraced after crossing the finish line in a gesture of sportsmanship, while 16 seconds later the Belgian came in. Jordi Meeus (Bora-hansgrohe).
Source: La Verdad
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