As expected, Mathieu van der Poel won the E3 Saxo Classic for the second consecutive year with a surprising solo breakaway. "I'm very happy with this victory: we had a tough race. With the team, we had to chase after the group split due to the initial crash. I struggled quite a bit because some teams tried to take advantage of that crash. These were teams that don't usually ride at the front, in my opinion, it was a bit unsportsmanlike. Racing like that after such a crash during the race was absolutely unnecessary. But in the end, we won".

The race was very competitive, and in the end, Van der Poel won, ahead of Mads Pedersen and Filippo Ganna. "I must thank my teammates for the fantastic work they did. I was very motivated to finish and win. I gave my all, and fortunately, I was able to reward them with the victory. It's not possible to compare this effort to Milan-San Remo. Both are tough races, but this was tough in a different way. This race is definitely harder. I think the E3 is one of the toughest races of the season".

Mathieu van der Poel will not be at the start of Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday because he wants to focus on the Tour of Flanders, a race he could win, although he will have to measure himself against a champion like Tadej Pogacar.

"I'm not specifically thinking about potentially winning my fourth Tour of Flanders, but it's a race, so I always try to give my maximum. A certain Tadej will race with us at the Ronde, but I'm in good form. I've done everything possible, so we'll see what happens next week. Did I miss Tadej today? No, not really".