The Flemish Classics’ campaign opened in quite an explosive and intense way on Friday at the E3 Saxo Classic. As expected, the race opened up early, and Mathieu van der Poel claimed victory after a forty-kilometre solo. After taking part in several moves in the last two hours of racing, Stefan Küng eventually had to settle for sixteenth place, within a second chasing group. On to the next round with Ghent-Wevelgem, on Sunday.
Considered as a small “Ronde van Vlaanderen”, one week before the Flemish Monument, the E3 Saxo Classic was also the starting point of the “holy fortnight”, which will take the riders up until Paris-Roubaix on the 7th of April. Yet, it all started on the other side of the border, all around Harelbeke, where seventeen bergs and nine cobbled sectors marked out the 207-kilometre route. The peloton expected a furious race, and it was so from the start, since the breakaway only went after a first hour of racing covered at an average speed of 51 km/h. “It was a fast start to the race, as we expected,” said Frédéric Guesdon. “It was also a difficult start for us because Clément crashed after ten kilometres and had to withdraw. Lewis slipped into a good move of twelve riders, unfortunately the bunch decided otherwise.” Ten men were ultimately able to form the front group, including Rémi Cavagna, Jannik Steimle and Jonas Abrahamsen, and took advantage of a short rest within the peloton to build a gap of almost five minutes. Halfway through the race, and after passing the first bergs, the peloton became much tenser and the fight for position started ahead of the Taaienberg. Stefan Küng benefited from the work of Sven-Erik Bystrom and Olivier Le Gac and was able to tackle this decisive climb in the first positions. Mathieu van der Poel tested his opponents for the first time, but around thirty riders eventually came back together, with Stefan Küng and Lewis Askey for Groupama-FDJ.
“We missed Valentin a lot in the final”, Frédéric Guesdon
Valentin Madouas was unfortunately not up there. “In these races, there are some spots where you can’t make a mistake, and Valentin was in a bad position when the race really opened up,” explained Frédéric. “He was left behind and we missed him a lot in the final.” “It was a very tough race which started as expected in the Taaienberg,” added Stefan. “Then followed a bergs sequence where it was only about attacking, attacking, and attacking. It was hard”. Lewis Askey tried to follow a few moves, as did the Swiss man, but no attempt managed to really go clear. Shortly before the last fifty kilometres, the former double European time trial champion gave it another go with Nils Politt and joined the breakaway twenty seconds ahead of the rest of the favourites. “I anticipated as we approached the Paterberg, unfortunately they came back just before,” explained Stefan. Although the Swiss rider was still able to tackle the cobbled hill in a great position, he was however unable to cope with the attacks of Mathieu van der Poel, who then went solo in the front. Right after, the riders got on the Oude Kwaremont, where Wout Van Aert accelerated. “I didn’t miss much to be able to follow Van Aert when he went,” Stefan said. “Unfortunately I didn’t have the legs. I’d already put in a lot of effort, so I was at the limit”.
“We need to do better”, Stefan Küng
Behind the duel between the Belgian and the Dutchman, the race for the remaining places started. “We were about ten, but it became a bit tactical because many teams had two riders,” Stefan added. “Five riders went out and I was left behind. Then, it came back from behind with many teams that had already someone at the front, so there was no more collaboration. It was hard to manage.” In a group of thirteen riders behind the seven men up the road, Stefan Küng also couldn’t escape in what was a flat end of the race. Almost three minutes after Mathieu van der Poel, he finished the day in sixteenth position, which didn’t really reflect his day’s level. “I felt good on the climbs, I was in the mix, but in the end, there is no result,” he said. “We have to do better in the next races, and there are still some opportunities. I’m still ambitious. We will already see on Sunday how it goes, but the guys worked well and if we do it again on Sunday and in the following races, it will eventually pay off.” “Stefan gave his all, but the race circumstances did not go his way, particularly tactically, and he couldn’t get the result we wanted,” concluded Frédéric. “Lewis had a great race, but he suffered a mechanical problem. Without that, he could have helped Stefan… We are now looking forward to Ghent-Wevelgem on Sunday. It will be a hard race because the weather could be difficult with a lot of wind. Laurence and Sam, who did not race today, will come back in the team.”
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