À Travers La Flandre gave us quite a show this Wednesday on the Flemish roads, between Roeselare and Waregem. The smartest one wins. Mathieu van der Poel had an intelligent race, well conducted, and he had the legs, even if he affirmed following crossing the finish line, that he was not the strongest on Wednesday.
Cyril Saugrain lent himself to the exercise of the three questions at the microphone of Rodrigo Beenkens.
Was there a possibility that van der Poel might not win this edition of A Travers La Flandre? “Yes, I think. At the pedal I think there were riders who had the legs to turn the situation around. A Campenaerts did it well. A Tiesj Benoot would have had to wait for the opportunity to go out alone .I think there was a way to beat him but you had to be a bit more wait-and-see at times.”
For the Ronde, next Sunday, we quote Van Aert, Pogacar, Pidcock and obviously van der Poel. Who is the favorite among these four riders? “From what we have seen since the start of the season, I would say that Mathieu van der Poel’s state of freshness will perhaps be an asset. Van Aert was more focused in his races, he ran smarter but I’m afraid Van Aert won’t be able to get rid of van der Poel on Sunday. And in the sprint, the little extra power is on van der Poel’s side. But a Pidcock who experienced difficult times, regained confidence today, and we know his qualities. He can go fast in the sprint, he can maybe take advantage of the rivalry between the first two at some point and try to escape. And then I wouldn’t dismiss Pogacar, despite his small mistake today. He will be in the race on Sunday and he will be quite a dangerous rival.“
For the first time in a long time, the team of Patrick Leferevre (Quick Step Alpha Vinyl) is not leaving with the favors of the forecasts at all. How to approach Sunday’s race in the shoes of the Quick Steps? “It’s complicated because it’s a team that is used to running with the grip of the race, with responsibilities, men in the final, leaders. There we will have to completely change this strategy because we know that we don’t have the men who can respond to the accelerations in strong. We’re going to have to run differently, maybe put men at the forefront. We will have to try to get ahead of the big attacks and maybe then we will be in the final. But on the race itself, on the pedal, I think the Quick-Step team will be too short this year and that’s exceptional.”