Until this morning Mathieu van der Poel had dreamed of a fourth victory at the Tour of Flanders, because he really wanted to break that record. But on the Oude Kwaremont, Tadej Pogacar imposed his law. Even the Dutch champion was forced to admit defeat and at the same time recognized his opponent's superiority. "In the end, Tadej did what he had to do" – Van der Poel stated calmly – "Cycling is very simple, but when there are riders like that, it's pointless. I pedaled at 650 watts and I couldn't keep up with his wheel".

About 30 kilometers from the finish line, van der Poel had begun to sense what would happen, and as he approached the finish, he understood that he would not be the one to win Flanders.

"At that moment, I gave in and I had to surrender to the law of the strongest. In the section between the Oude Kwaremont, I managed to resist for a while and it even seemed like I was getting a bit closer to him. But then Tadej accelerated again and I couldn't do anything else".

No one in this Ronde was able to keep up with the Slovenian's pace and both Van der Poel and Remco Evenepoel and Van Aert, at different times, had to surrender. "During the race I never looked back to see what was happening and only from the television images did I understand how far back Remco and Wout were. As I headed towards the finish line, I only thought about taking the corners in the best way possible, while Tadej kept pushing hard at every corner. It was a real battle".

In the end, Van der Poel had to settle for second place, his seventh consecutive podium at the Ronde, but this time on the podium he stood with Pogacar and Evenepoel, forming a truly prestigious trio. "Yes, it was a nice podium, but not the nicest podium ever – the Dutchman said jokingly – for it to be the nicest podium ever, I would have had to be on the top step. But I'm realistic enough to know that Tadej is always the man to beat. I reached the level I wanted and he was simply the strongest".

Next week, however, there could be an opportunity for revenge at Paris-Roubaix. "Well, the opportunity to win today has slipped away and we all know that luck plays an important role, so let's look to next week. But first I need to rest: it was a race worth framing".