Ronde van Vlaanderen - Tour des Flandres 2024

March 31, 2024 The 108th edition got under way under the sunny skies and wet roads of Antwerp. Bert Van Lerberghe of Soudal Quicktep, David Dekker of Arkéa-B&B Hotels, Stanisław Aniołkowski of Cofidis, Damien Touzé of Decathlon AG2R, Luke Durbridge and Elmar Reinders of Jayco AlUla, Lionel Taminiaux of Lotto Dstny, and Jelle Vermoote of Bingoal WB went on the second flurry of attacks but the peloton didn't settle. The teams who missed out kept sending riders up the road but after 45KM, the break got enough of a gap that the bridge attempts would not be possible, leaving eight riders out front from the main breakaway. Silvan Dillier of Alpecin-Deceuninck set the pace in the peloton to keep the break pinned at four minutes. It all stayed status-quo but as the race get nearer to the climbs and the first passage of the Oude Kwaremont, the urgency and stress in the peloton started to show. The peloton continued fighting into each corner and as they reached the Wolvenberg, Matteo Jorgenson of Visma-Lease a Bike accelerated on the front, followed by a little move by Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek a few kilometers later. Large gaps appeared and the peloton was reduced considerably with 110KM still to ride. The peloton calmed on the Kerkgate allowing others to get back on but it felt like the race would open early. The next attacks came on the Molenberg with Pedersen, Jorgenson following with Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Deceuninck in tow. A total of twelve riders made that split. Things were constantly changing and all of a sudden a group with Pedersen and others got away but this time without van der Poel. The Pedersen group bridged to the breakaway on the Berendries with the peloton about twenty five seconds back. Van der Poel was quite isolated and stranded in the peloton. Three of van der Poel's teammates got to the front to try and drag the Pedersen group back. As the rain started to fall, the gap went down to twelve seconds at the foot of the Valkenberg and van der Poel leapt from the group and bridged solo in no time. Pedersen recognized the danger and attacked but this time only Gianni Vermeersch of Alpecin-Deceuninck went with him. The pair rode a long way together until 56KM to go when they hit the Oude Kwaremeont for the second time. They were caught as Oier Lazkano of Movistar led the bunch until van der Poel made his effort. He split the group and only six riders made it over the top together, van der Poel, Pedersen, Lazkano with Laurence Pithie of Groupama FDJ, Tim Wellens of UAE, and Dylan Teuns of Israel-Premier Tech. They were chased and caught by a group of about fifteen on the way to the Paterberg but not all would go over the top of the Paterberg together. Iván García Cortina of Movistar got out of the front group solo and was the first to hit the slippery cobbles of the Koppenberg. With the main chasers in shot, García Cortina slipped on the steepest part of the Koppenberg and had to get off. Van der Poel caught him first but behind, nearly all the others lost traction and had to run up the berg. Jorgenson was solo in chase but there was a chasm between him and third on the road as they crested the Koppenberg with 44KM to go. Van der Poel hit the Taaienberg with a forty second lead over Jorgenson and a minute on the the next group. Wellens, Tuens, García Cortina, and Alberto Bettiol of EF Education-EasyPost caught Jorgeson to make a larger chase group but were still a minute and ten seconds down. Pedersen and Laurenz Rex of Intermarché-Wanty joined the group. Bettiol and Teuns got away from the others over the top of the Kruisberg and Hotond but were now a minute and forty seconds behind van der Poel. The chasing pair had just twelve seconds from the third group with 10KM to go. Van der Poel crossed the line first for his third win at De Ronde. Teuns and Bettiol were caught by the third group with 100M to go as Luca Mozzato of and Arkéa-B&B Hotels and Michael Matthews of Jayco AlUla took the final podium places. Matthews was quickly relegated by the jury for an irregular sprint, giving Nils Politt of UAE third place.