Until mid-week, Jumbo-Visma had Wout van Aert as the absolute favorite to win the Tour of Flanders. But after their Classics captain contracted COVID-19 and was forced to miss their home race, the team walked away empty-handed despite going into the race with an aggressive strategy. The best the team could do was ninth with Christophe Laporte.
Jumbo-Visma was left out of the early breakaway, but as the peloton approached the first Hellingen block in the final and the breakaway began to wobble, Nathan Van Hooydonck attacked on the Molenberg and took out a dozen riders, including his partner team member Mick van Dijke. in a strong counterattack.
However, the Tour of Flanders is hardly ever kind. As the pace picked up before the second block of cobbled climbs, Laporte found himself climbing out of the roadside culvert after being brought down in an accident, with neither he nor Tiesj Benoot able to follow when Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin- Phoenix). ) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) launched the winning play. Van der Poel took his second Tour of Flanders win, while Pogacar was overtaken on the podium by Dylan van Baarle (Ineos) and Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), who caught up with the duo in the final 250 metres.
With Van Aert the team’s most proven rider for the Classics, it was another missed opportunity for Jumbo-Visma. Sporting director Arthur van Dongen told Het Nieuwsblad that he felt Van Aert would have been there with Laporte at his side.
“I think given the course, it would have been a course for Wout, especially with a strong team around him,” Van Dongen said. “If Laporte hadn’t crashed, he would have been with the others who cheered on the final. And Wout normally would have been there too, I’m convinced of that.”
Paris-Roubaix is thankfully two weeks away after exchanging dates with the Amstel Gold Race due to the French elections, but Van Dongen is not second-guessing whether he can return in time for the Hell of the North.
“For now it’s too early to say when he’ll be back. As long as he’s not fit, we can’t say anything about it. First it’s a matter of improving him, then medical checks and then we have to see if it makes sense to schedule races.”
Jumbo-Visma made the most of the Tour of Flanders, wisely avoiding the early breakaway and helping to control the gap. As the peloton approached the first Hellingen block in the finale and the breakaway began to falter, Nathan Van Hooydonck attacked on the Molenberg and took out a dozen riders, including teammate Mick van Dijke, in a strong counterattack.
However, as the pace picked up before the second block of cobbled climbs, Laporte found himself climbing out of the roadside culvert after being brought down in a massive crash.
“I felt good today,” Laporte said in a team news release. “It’s unfortunate that I fell. I had to work really hard to make up lost ground. A crash always comes at the wrong time, especially in this case. The team worked hard to get me back in a good position.”
Crossing the line in a five-man chase group 48 seconds behind, Laporte finished in ninth place.
“I’m in good shape, which is a good sign for the upcoming races,” said Laporte, who is next in the Amstel Gold Race and Paris-Roubaix. “I am satisfied with ninth place. It turned out to be the most we could achieve.”
Benoot, who finished 13th at 1:02, agreed that Laporte’s crash cost the team critical efforts. “We wanted to attack the Molenberg. I think it worked out well. Mick and Nathan got away so we had two guys up front. It was a shame Christophe crashed. It took a lot of energy for the team to bring him back.” a reasonable position. I felt good, but unfortunately, I couldn’t keep up when the others sped up,” said Benoot.
The team’s star of the day was neo-pro Van Dijke, sporting Van Aert’s number 11 and starting the first major classic of his career at the Tour of Flanders. He finished in 75th place after his last minute call.
“Today I surprised myself,” Van Dijke said. “For me, the Tour of Flanders is the most beautiful classic. The fact that I was able to attack is very good. It became clear that I still have a bit to go for a race of this length. . progress and I am very proud of that. As a team, we have not given up. We have shown that we are strong in these types of races, and in recent weeks, I have shown that I have something to look forward to in these great classics.”