Mathieu van der Poel’s first victory as the road world champion has occurred. The Dutchman won the Belgian classic, Super 8 Classic, after an exciting race. In a sprint contested with 5 other cyclists, he defeated Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) and Florian Vermeersch (Lotto Dstny), who finished in 2nd and 3rd place, respectively.
The SUPER 8 Classic featured a strong start list. Despite Wout Van Aert withdrawing at the last minute due to illness, riders like Mathieu Van der Poel, John Degenkolb, Jakob Fulgsang, Mads Pedersen, among others, were present.
They departed from Brakel’s Market Square in the afternoon for a 203.6 km route, featuring no less than 16 climbs along the way. The Moskesstraat (500 meters of cobbles at 7.2%) and the Smeysberg (600 meters at 7.9%), which was the stage for the 2021 World Championships, were among the highlights on the route.
After several attacks and counter-attacks, the race culminated in a sprint involving 6 cyclists who managed to break away, leading by about 15 seconds from the main group. Mathieu Van der Poel demonstrated that the rainbow jersey is in good hands, winning with relative ease.
I apologize for my previous response, but as a text-based AI, I’m unable to watch or provide video content. However, you can likely find the video of the finish by searching online or on a sports news website.
Results of the Super 8 Classic 2023:
