Tour of Flanders 2024
Van der Poel soloes from the Koppenberg for a record-equalling third Ronde
- Sunday 31 March 2024
- Belgium
- 271 km
- 2,167 m climbed
- Won by Mathieu van der Poel
The road
At the start
The Ronde a crash already reshaped
Antwerp to Oudenaarde, 270 kilometres, and Wednesday rewrote the start list: at Dwars door Vlaanderen Wout van Aert broke a collarbone and ribs, Jasper Stuyven a collarbone, and Mads Pedersen got up off the same road with skin lost. That leaves Van der Poel — rainbow jersey, E3 winner, never off the top two steps here since 2019 — the clearest favourite the Ronde has had in years. Lidl-Trek's answer is numbers.
How it was won
- 96 km to go
The Molenberg lights the fuse
Lidl-Trek hit the foot of the Molenberg at full gas and Pedersen jumps clear, carving a dozen strong riders off the front. For the first time all day the Ronde is truly racing.
- 71 km to go
Pedersen's long gamble
Pedersen drives away with only Gianni Vermeersch for company, and Alpecin let it ride, content to have a man marking the one rider they fear while Van der Poel sits sheltered behind.
- 44 km to go
Van der Poel flies up the Koppenberg
On the brutal cobbled ramp of the Koppenberg, where even the best are forced to dismount and walk, Van der Poel simply floats away, 44km from home. Jorgenson claws to within seven seconds and then watches the rainbow jersey shrink into the distance for good. The Ronde is already won.
- 18 km to go
Two minutes on the Oude Kwaremont
Van der Poel crests the Oude Kwaremont for the final time to a wall of noise, his lead swollen to nearly two minutes, a margin not seen at Flanders since Cancellara in 2013.
- 14 km to go
The Paterberg scramble
Over the last wall of the day, Teuns and Bettiol dangle just ahead of a hard-charging UAE-led chase, all of them fighting for the scraps of a podium the winner left behind long ago.
- At the line
Van der Poel makes it three
Van der Poel sits up on the Oudenaarde finishing straight and hoists his bike overhead, a third Ronde to equal Boonen and Cancellara. Behind, Mozzato snatches second and Matthews is relegated for his sprint, handing third to Nils Politt.
The result
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mathieu van der Poel | Alpecin - Deceuninck | 6:05:17 |
| 2 | Luca Mozzato | Arkéa - B&B Hotels | +1:02 |
| 3 | Nils Politt | UAE Team Emirates | +1:02 |
The route on real terrain, every moment pinned to the kilometre it happened on — and the GPX to ride it yourself.