Mathieu van der Poel won and undoubtedly his was a predicted victory. The Dutch champion wanted to amaze once again and after concluding the cyclocross season with 8 participations and 8 victories, now that he has started the road season, he does not want to be any less impressive. At Samyn, the Dutchman was the super favorite and as expected, he won exactly as he had imagined.

"50 kilometers from the finish line, I had informed the team that I would attempt a sprint" – Van der Poel explained: "this finale was suitable for a rider like me, it's one of those where I knew I could win".

The news of the Dutch champion's participation in Samyn came just two days before the race, and the choice was born from the fact that Van der Poel felt ready to start the season and regrets not having participated in the opening weekend in Flanders.

"I felt very good and was in Spain when I decided to participate. I think with legs like today, I would have also had an excellent opening weekend in Belgium. It was truly a shame not to be there".

In these first days of races in Europe, Alpecin-Deceunink has won two races, the first with Philipsen on Sunday at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and today at Samyn with Van der Poel.

"When I decided to sprint, I tried to save as much energy as possible. With a finish like this on a slight uphill, I knew it would be more difficult for pure sprinters. I had confidence in my sprint and it was sufficient to win today".

The Dutchman will race at Tirreno-Adriatico and then at Milan-Sanremo, a race where he won in 2023 and secured third place in 2022. Last year he helped his teammate Philipsen win the Spring Classic. "Today I won and it was very nice, but at Milan-Sanremo it will be a different story".