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The Tour of Flanders was a steeplechase Sunday on the infamous Koppenberg cobbles.
The wall lived as much as its horrid popularity after the peloton got here to a digital standstill in a logjam of bikes and our bodies within the most decisive moment of the men’s race.
“The Koppenberg, we have been strolling up it. It felt like we have been doing cyclocross,” stated Ineos Grenadiers rider Magnus Sheffield, who rode to sixth. “We saved preventing all the best way to the tip.”
A giant group of favorites and podium-hunters arrived to the bottom of the vertical cobblestone barrier, and there wasn’t sufficient room for everybody.
With the pavé slippery and moist from a current downpour, wheels spun out, and dozens of riders have been pressured to step out of the pedals.
The legendary and infamous cobblestone climb played king-maker Sunday.
Mathieu van der Poel uncorked his race-winning assault, and dropped the chasing Matteo Jorgenson and others for good.
“The rain made the cobblestone climbs troublesome. The Kopenberg specifically was sliding and slipping all the best way to the highest,” Van der Poel stated. “Then I had created a pleasant hole, however with the wind it was nonetheless far. I rode as exhausting as I might.”
The attacking Van der Poel and Jorgenson each danced their approach up the steep climb freed from visitors, however because the chasers got here packed in shoulder-to-shoulder, there was no room for error.
Movistar’s Iván García Cortina hit the Koppenberg first, however his tire stress was too excessive to catch a grip, and his tires slipped out on the moist cobbles.
The Spanish star noticed his hopes of a prime end fade as rider after rider whizzed previous him.
“I felt somewhat little bit of helplessness as a result of on the Koppenberg I had no grip in any respect,” Cortina advised Relevo. “I used to be attempting to go on the smoothest cobbles however there was no approach. I attempted to decrease the stress in desperation and after that I used to be going to have a tough time, and afterward the Kwaremont I used to be useless.”
‘All of the sudden everybody stopped’
![Koppenberg](https://velo-cdn.outsideonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/GettyImages-2127740431.jpg?width=730)
Behind Cortina, the chaos unfolded as riders have been determined to attempt to keep on the wheel of the attacking Van der Poel.
Tires slipped, chains jammed, and riders have been quickly unclipping and working up the cobbles cyclocross type of their cleats.
“It was survival for me after which we have been on foot on the Koppenberg. All of the sudden everybody stopped and I needed to get off the bike, too,” stated Visma-Lease a Bike’s Tiesj Benoot. “It was a really powerful day while you see how issues are going behind Mathieu. I couldn’t trip on the smallest gear.”
Related chaos unfolded within the girls’s race, with bikes and our bodies tousled on the unrelenting mixture of steeps and cobbles.
The Koppenberg was chaos within the Flanders males’s and girls’s races!#RVV24 #RVVmen #RVVwomen pic.twitter.com/xtekLwCUSo
— NBC Sports activities Biking (@NBCSCycling) March 31, 2024
At about 600m lengthy, the wall of tough, slippery cobbles is without doubt one of the steepest on your entire Flanders route. With a mean grade of 11.6 %, there are sectors as steep as 22 %.
It’s difficult sufficient within the dry. Add rain and a peloton stuffed with riders on the intense edge, and one minor hiccup can result in a series response.
The Koppenberg was a Flanders staple from 1975 till 1987, when Jasper Skibby was knocked off his bike and his wheel was crushed by a following race commissaires automotive, narrowly lacking working over his leg.
The enduring climb was faraway from the race till 2002, however taken out once more, earlier than being reintroduced in 2008.
Since then, it’s located between the 2 passages of the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg within the new-look trendy Flanders finale.
Although brief, it’s extraordinarily steep and sometimes helps drive the wedge between the strongest attackers and the determined chasers.
“The Koppenberg was actually nothing in any respect. We needed to stroll up, and even that was nearly unattainable,” stated Lidl-Trek’s Daan Hoole. “You nearly slipped, however you couldn’t do something about it. I actually needed to get off, as a result of I had no grip.”
Le chaos dans le Koppenberg vu de la place du public.#RVV24
Jerry Huinderpic.twitter.com/57shUpQDUw— Le Gruppetto (@LeGruppetto) March 31, 2024
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