One impressive acceleration suffices for Van der Poel in Diegem

Mathieu van der Poel won his first Telenet Superprestige race of the season in Diegem. The world champion served up a perfect sand passage midway through the race and rode solo to the finish. He made it ahead of Pidcock and Iserbyt, who is already certain of overall victory in the Telenet Superprestige 2023-2024.

The holeshot in Diegem went to the Swiss cyclist Kevin Kuhn (Circus - Reuz - Technord). The dry course made it difficult for anyone to make an early difference in the race and as a result many riders adopted a wait-and-see attitude. That worked out well for Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers). The Briton set off from the third row at the start but had already moved up to fifth after just half a lap.

It soon became clear that mistakes would prove fatal. Pidcock lost several places again after a poor passage through the sandpit, but managed to rejoin the group soon after.

On lap four, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) decided that his moment had come. After a perfect passage through the sandpit, the world champion pulled out all the stops. In no time he had grabbed a lead of some 10 seconds. Pidcock tried to offer some resistance and worked with Eli Iserbyt (Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal) to create a gap in front of the rest, but once again Van der Poel had no equal.

Lap by lap, the world champion extended his lead. Van der Poel finished 49 seconds clear of runner-up Tom Pidcock. The Briton surprised Iserbyt in the last corner. Thanks to his third place, the Belgian is certain of overall victory in the Telenet Superprestige 2023-2024.