VIDEO. Mathieu van der Poel, alone in the world, wins his third Tour of Flanders

Mathieu van der Poel was simply too strong. MAXPPP – DAVID PINTENS

Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel became the seventh rider in history to win the Tour of Flanders for the third time.

The Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel became the seventh rider in history to win the Tour of Flanders for the third time on Sunday in Oudenaarde by winning in apocalyptic conditions, at the’ rsquo;from a solitary raid of 44 kilometers.

Slippery paving stones

Great favorite of "Ronde" in the absence of Wout Van Aert and Tadej Pogacar, the Alpecin rider made the difference in the Koppenberg, a particularly steep mountain, where he managed to stay on his bike while most of his competitors dismounted on cobblestones made terribly slippery by the rain.