Mathieu van der Poel's battle with Tom Pidcock was just taking shape at Telenet Superprestige Boom today when it came to a sudden end; the Dutch rider crashing hard on the cobbles and taking the world champion with him.
Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) had already pulled clear of the other front runners on the opening lap and looked like they were set for a great head-to-head out front. However, just after completing the first lap, Van der Poel led into a short section of paving on a corner and slid out, falling awkwardly.
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He came down on his left knee and while he got back on the bike it seemed his shoe was broken and he lost a lot of time, quickly sliding back the field to about 40th place. However, Pidcock kept going and showed no ill effects from the crash incident.
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The British rider continued to plough on solo out front and looked like he was in charge on his way to a likely victory. However, Lars van der Haar (Baloise-Trek Lions) continued to chase throughout the race and was never too far behind the lone leader, with Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) for company most of the way.
Pidcock ran out the winner, by 10 seconds from van der Haar, after 24.4km of racing. Iserbyt took the final place on the podium, some 13 seconds behind Pidcock. European champion Michael Vanthourenhout (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) placed 4th at 43 seconds while Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Fristads) was 5th at 1:10.
After his problems, Van der Poel still placed 13th. His completing the race hopefully confirms he did not do serious damage to himself in the crash. He was 3:03 down on the race winner.
More to come.
