Mathieu Van der Pol knew exactly what to expect on the climb of the Oude Quaremont in the previous Tour of Flanders, but his foreknowledge was of little use this time. Taddei Pogachar's attack rarely surprised him.

That proved true here as well. Van der Pol had withstood Pogachar's onslaught on the same climb a year earlier and held on to win.

Pogachar had already shown a willingness to break away on the final climb of the Kwaremont with 55km to go, but when the Slovenian gave up before the Koppenberg, Van der Pol caught up with him as part of an elite group. But on the next lap, Pogachar repeated the same thing. Van der Pol got closer to the reaction than anyone else, but there was nothing he could do.

"What he did today was really special. We already knew he was strong in Kwaremont last year and at E3 Price, but he showed it again today," said Van der Pol, who also stood out from the rest in the finale of the fastest ronde ever, which he ran through at an average speed of 44.083 km/h.

Van der Pol arrived in Oudenaarde in second place, 16 seconds behind Pogachar but nearly a minute ahead of the rest of the field after winning the individual overall in Kwaremont and Paterberg The Dutchman, who won the Tour de Flanders twice in 2020 and 2022 rider, but there is no doubt that this race was his masterpiece. It was simply his bad luck to hit Pogachar with his settings locked in scorched earth mode.

"Finishing second is never good, but here it's a little easier. Because he was the strongest and deserved the win," Van der Pol said. In the 20km chase that followed, Van der Pol lost many of his teammates well before the finale.

"I think this is my fifth time in the Ronde, but I've never run like that before. At the start I got caught at the back of the split and my teammates suffered to get me back into the peloton. But it wasn't a problem for me, so I don't think I lost the race there. But Taddeji was really strong today."

Van der Pol departed Bruges with Pogachar and Wout van Aert. However, a long-distance move led by Nielson Powles and Stefan Küng seemed to put the Big Three at a disadvantage for a time.

In Kruisberg, Van der Pol unleashed an attack that doomed his eternal rival Van Aert, but there was no hope of shaking off Pogachar. His only hope was to repeat last year's miracle, when he somehow withstood the irresistible force of the double winner of the Tour de France.

"At the start I didn't feel very strong, and I felt a bit cold. But after a couple of attacks I felt better," van der Pol said. In Teuenberg the chain flew off and I lost a bit of energy, but not too much. In Kruisberg I made a good attack. I needed to make the race there and drop Van Aert, because he is good in sprints. But I couldn't answer Taddei's attack in Quaremont.

"It was disappointing, but personally it was a great ronde. From the last paterberg to the finish, I never dropped below 400 watts. Then I deserved second place and I can't complain."

Two years ago, Van der Pol suffered an unexpected loss to Kasper Asgreen in a two-up sprint in Oudenaarde. On the other hand, the loss was easy to digest. Van der Pol's smile as he recounted the race to reporters was telling.

His spring has already been successful, winning Milan-San Remo two weeks ago. With Paris-Roubaix coming up next week, he may be in even better shape.

"I hope so," van der Pol said. "It's a different race from Ronde. I think the Ronde suits me better than Roubaix. But I have the legs and the form, so I'll give it a go."

Obviously, yes. But this time Pogachar isn't.