Mathieu van der Poel is good enough to win Flanders, says father Adri

As Mathieu van der Poel sprinted to victory at Dwars Door Vlaanderen on Wednesday, he was being willed on by his father from a team car just a couple of kilometres away. Adri van der Poel, winner of the 1986 Tour of Flanders, had spent the day as a helper for the Corendon-Circus team, handing out bidons at the top of the Knokteberg, and revelled in his son's first WorldTour win and major breakthrough as a Classics star.

Patrick Fletcher

Patrick is a freelance sports writer and editor. He’s an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (French and Spanish). Patrick worked full-time at Cyclingnews for eight years between 2015 and 2023, latterly as Deputy Editor.