CONTENDERS
MATHIEU VAN DER POEL 26 | ALPECIN-FENIX
Best result: 1st Tour of Flanders 2020
Mathieu van der Poel only started regularly riding on the road a couple of years ago, but in that time he’s already rewritten the rules of how Classics are raced. Whether he’s launching ludicrously early attacks or, as at the 2019 Amstel Gold, single-handedly towing a group to the finish and still beating them all in the sprint, the Dutchman continually defies conventional racing logic, but keeps winning anyway.
Having struck the first blow with victory at Strade Bianche, he’ll again go head-to-head against Wout van Aert on the cobbles, renewing what is shaping up to be one of cycling’s all-time great rivalries.
