Cycling: Van der Poel lives up to his role as favourite, Kopecky does not

The Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel won the Tour of Flanders among the men. He started as favourite and recorded his third victory in that race. The Flemish Lotte Kopecky, on the other hand, could not live up to her role as a favourite among the women and only finished fifth.

In the 108th edition of the Tour, 29-year-old van der Poel finished solo after 270.8 kilometres from Antwerp to Oudenaarde. The Italian Luca Mozzato held Michael Matthews behind him at 1 minute 02 for second place. The Australian was declassified due to irregular sprinting, so that the German Nils Politt was able to take the podium in third place. Van der Poel succeeds Tadej Pogacar on the honors list, the Slovenian did not start this year. Van der Poel also won the Tour in 2020 and 2022.

In the women's race, Italy's Elisa Longo Borghini won. Lotte Kopecky could not compete for victory.

_{#FlandersNewsService | Lotte Kopecky ​ ©BELGA PHOTO JASPER JACOBS}