Mathieu van der Poel angered and calls out teams for unsportsmanlike tactics at E3 Saxo Classic despite solo domination

E3 Saxo Classic winner Mathieu van der Poel called out teams for their unsportsmanlike tactics after his Alpecin-Deceuninck team were forced to do the lion's share of the work in pulling back an early split that formed in the race due to a crash.

The crash happened off-screen in the first 30 minutes of racing heading out of Harelbeke, with several riders going down, four forced to abandon, and many of the favourites being caught behind it. 

Once the broadcast images finally started, it revealed an Alpecin-Deceuninck-led main peloton, three minutes behind a very strong group that contained the likes of Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) and last year's E3 runner-up Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek).

A tiresome chase was taken up by Van der Poel's men, who diligently worked to give their leader a chance to defend his title. However, as Visma and Groupama-FDJ paced in front to try and keep the gap, they poked the bear. 

"Yes", said Van der Poel bluntly, interrupting the first question of his winner's press conference of whether he was angry at how teams rode at the start. Several of Van der Poel's teammates had suggested he was enraged as they spoke in the mixed zone post-race, and their leader didn't hold back.

"It's no fair play to go full gas after a crash where more than half of the bunch is blocked," Van der Poel told media, including Cyclingnews. 

"For me, this is something we would never do as a team. I'm not gonna waste too many words on it, but just it shows a real problem in cycling, in my opinion," referring to the lack of solidarity in the bunch.

"In the end, I think we solved it quite well."

Van der Poel of course had to finish the job once things had been brought back together, with some help from Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, with just over 100km to race, buoyed by the added motivation of his team sacrificing themselves. 

"I was already quite motivated and because the team worked so hard, I wanted to try and finish it off," he said. 

"Of course, without the team today, I cannot fight for the victory. So I think I'm really thankful for the work they have done."

The decisive attack

Once racing was back together approaching the crucial Taaienberg climb, Van der Poel's anger took the form of extreme focus, with the Dutchman locking onto the correct wheel of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), just before the race-deciding attack that came from the Dane. 

Pedersen exploded up the cobbles, Van der Poel right there with him, and Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) close behind too. The trio soon got away from Visma's Wout van Aert and Jorgenson, allowing them to battle out the finale. Having blown the E3 Saxo Classic apart on the Taaienberg in previous years, however, it wasn't exactly where Van der Poel was hoping the main action would unfold.

"I didn't want to attack on Taaienberg, because I've done it already a couple of years now, and the race always comes back afterwards. So I wanted to stay a bit more calm," Van der Poel said. 

"But I was in a good position. I followed Mads, and then when Ganna came back as well, I think we understood all three what we had to do and we had a good cooperation. It's also still quite far from the finish line so I think we needed each other."

Van der Poel then dispatched his two close rivals as the race entered its final moments, dropping them one by one on the Oude Kwaremont climb, which will headline next Sunday's Tour of Flanders. It wasn't quite as long a solo effort as he managed in 2024, going alone with 38km to go instead of 43km to go.

"On the Kwaremont, I wanted to make the last split. But I didn't really expect to go all alone, because I knew from last year, that it's really far to go alone from there, also with the wind today. But there was no way back in the end and I'm glad I could make the final move."

There were whispers he could race Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday, but Van der Poel confirmed post-race that he would instead be resting, with a slightly blocked nose from all the racing in wet and cold conditions at Tirreno, San Remo and E3. 

He'll then either stay in Belgium to prepare or head for the sun in Spain ahead of the Tour of Flanders on April 6, where his rivalry with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) will resume, before a third face-off at Paris-Roubaix the week after. 

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