April 6, 2025
The time has finally come for Vlaanderens Mooiste. All of the cobbled classics have come and gone in preparation for Holy Week, starting with the Ronde van Vlaanderen today and ending with Paris-Roubaix next Sunday. The second Monument of the season starts in Brugge and heads South through Tielt and Deinze before going through Oudenaarde, the gate to the Flemish Ardennes. There is no easing into the climbs, the riders hit the Oude Kwaremont, the first of 16 bergs, with 140KM to go. Cobbles and Bergs come thick and fast from there but the main feature starts with 55KM to go with the Oude Kwaremont, Paterberg, Koppenberg, and Taaienberg which all come within about 30KM. One more lap around takes in the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg one more time before a flat 12KM to Oudenaarde on the main road running parallel with the Scheldt River.
Race Summary
The weather could not have been more perfect for the sign-on in Brugge. The temperature was cool but the sky was a perfect blue with a touch of wind coming from the East. Crowds were overflowing out of the Grote Markt as more than one million people were expected to line the route throughout the day. Race Director, Scott Sutherland, waived the flag to get the race underway. A series of solo riders were off the front but it wasn't until the town of Aalter with 232KM to go that a group of eight got away including Elmar Reinders of Jayco AlUla, Alessandro Romele of XDS-Astana, Connor Swift of Ineos, Sean Flynn and Timo Roosen of Picnic-PostNL, Rory Townsend of Q36.5, Marco Haller of Tudor Pro Cycling, and Victor Vercouillie of Flanders-Baloise. The bunch slowed with riders stopping for a natural break but Arkéa-B&B Hotels missed the break and attacked. They were immediately shut down and chastised for the move. Max Walker of EF-Education EasyPost and Jens Reynders of Wagner-Bazin WB did get away but they waited too long to do so. They persevered but were stuck in a chasse-patate for almost 50KM and never made it across the eight leaders.
Silvan Dillier of Alpecin-Deceuninck took up his usual position at the front of the peloton with 212KM when the gap got to 3 minutes. He got help from Mikkel Bjerg of UAE-XRG and the duo led the peloton to the Doorn cobbled sector with 160KM to go, nearly 4 minutes behind the break. The bunch passed through Oudenaarde through tunnels of cheering fans. On the long road main road out of Oudenaarde, teams started the positioning battle for the first passage of the Oude Kwaremont. The Oude Kwaremont came and went without much issue. Over the Hotond, the front of the peloton was in color order but riders were swirling in the maelstrom trying to stay in position for the run in to the Eikenberg. There were two crashes on the wide downhill road with 128KM to go took down Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Deceuninck, Tim Wellens and Jhonatan Narváez of UAE-XRG, John Degenkolb of Picnic-Post-NL, and at least 10 others. Van der Poel was able to remount and get going but others either abandoned or never made it back to the bunch. The peloton turned on to the Eikenberg with 124KM to go, 3 minute 25 seconds behind the break and 40 seconds ahead of van der Poel.
With great help from his team, van der Poel made it back on before the Wolvenberg. Tudor Pro Cycling and Uno-X Mobility sent a few riders over the top of the Wolvenberg but it was still together by the Jagerij, 115KM from the line. Over the top of Molenberg, passed the Vinkemolen, XDS-Astana sent Davide Ballerini up the road, he was joined by Vito Braet of Intermarché-Wanty, Stefan Küng of Groupama-FDJ, and Tiesj Benoot of Visma-Lease a Bike. Quinten Hermans of Alpecin-Deceuninck, Daan Hoole of Lidl-Trek, Filippo Ganna of Ineos, and Matteo Trentin of Tudor Pro Cycling attacked shortly after and formed another group off the front of the bunch. UAE-XRG missed the moves and started chasing. The gap was out to 40 seconds over the Paddestraat to the Küng group and 1 minute 10 seconds to the original break, who were down to six after Vercouillie and Roosen were dropped, with the Ganna group in the middle. The Küng group were joined by Ganna and the rest to make eight chaser at 93KM to go. They were 27 seconds behind the early break but 40 seconds up on the UAE-XRG led peloton. The two front groups then came together with 90KM to go to make 14 riders. A few kilometers of flat road after the Valkenberg allowed the riders to have a moment to breathe before heading to the Berg Ten Houte and into Ronse.
António Morgado and Nils Politt of UAE-XRG buried themselves to bring the gap down but the leaders were working very well together and eeked out a lead of 1 minute 15 seconds by the top of the Nieuwe Kruisberg with 64KM to go. The bunch went light-speed down the large road for the tight right turn that leads to the Oude Kwaremont for the second of three ascents. Tadej Pogačar of UAE-XRG attacked right before the cobbles on the Oude Kwaremont. Matteo Jorgenson and Wout van Aert of Visma-Lease a Bike were on him right away with Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek latching on. Van der Poel was out of position and had to make a big effort but he got on and the five went over the top together, just 30 seconds behind the 7 remaining leaders. Pogačar wasn't getting help in the group which allowed the peloton to get back just as they swung the right turn on to the Paterberg with 51KM to go. This time it was van der Poel who put in the effort on the Paterberg which split the race once again. Pedersen got back on as did Jorgenson, van Aert and Jasper Stuyven of Lidl-Trek. Stuyven went to work but Neilson Powless of EF-Education EasyPost, Arjen Livyns of Lotto, and Yevgeniy Fedorov of XDS-Astana caught on to make nine on the twisting roads headed for the Koppenberg.
Pogačar lit up Koppenberg and, over the top, there was Küng, Benoot, and Ballerini in the lead with van der Poel, Pogačar, Trentin, and Ganna latching on with 41KM to go. More riders got on a few hundred meters later including the Lidl-Trek and Visma-Lease a Bike riders to make 13. The group was less than cooperative but they went on to the Taaienberg together. Pogačar went again from the bottom and only van der Poel and Pedersen were with him by the top. Küng and Stuyven joined with van Aert, Jorgenson, and Benoot in a chase group around 10 seconds behind. They got within 7 seconds but Pogačar did another pull on the Oude Kruisberg which dropped Pedersen. Van Aert and Stuyven picked up Pedersen and the trio caught Pogačar and van der Poel with 23KM to go as they started the long downhill run to the Oude Kwaremont.
Van Aert attacked the group on the narrow, paved part of the Oude Kwaremont but he was caught when the cobbles started as Pogačar ramped up the pace. van der Poel tried to follow but blew up and had to slip back, leaving Pogačar to fly free. The four chasers were only 12 seconds back by the top but the gap extended to 25 seconds over the Paterberg with just 12KM to race, making the chase a race for the podium spots. Pogačar crossed the line for his second win in De Ronde and his eighth Monument victory, with a demonstration of power. Stuyven led the group behind through 400M to go and it was Pedersen who sprinted first at 275M. Van der Poel tried to get to his wheel but Pedersen had the best sprint, taking second with van der Poel in third, van Aert in fourth and Stuyven in fifth. Benoot beat Küng for sixth with Ganna leading in the main peloton for eighth place.