“The fact that I manage the BinckBankTour like this is incredible,” Van der Poel said. “The jump to the front group with Sénéchal came at a good moment, but once we joined them the others didn’t want to work anymore.”
At the next passage on the Muur van Geraardsbergen Van der Poel tried to break away from the other breakaway riders with Sénéchal and teammate Dries De Bondt. “That was what we agreed with Senechal, but after my acceleration I was alone at the top. For a moment I hesitated, because 50 kilometres to the finish is way too early. But in the end I decided to continue and go all or nothing.”
Van der Poel just about managed to finish an epic solo ride, although he had to go very deep to make it to the finish. “On the final climb I was completely cramping up and I was really struggling to push the watts. I was completely finished, it was even harder than the Amstel Gold Race. This has to be one of my best ever rides.” Van der Poel also highly values his overall BinckBank Tour win. “For me this wasn’t a preparation race for the classics. I absolutely wanted to win here. I am really happy I managed to finish it off like this. It doesn’t get better than that.”
