How E3 showed us what Van Aert, Van der Poel and Pogačar need to do to win the Tour of Flanders

Wout van Aert might have won on Friday, but everything could change next Sunday

Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar at E3
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The E3 Saxo Classic on Friday was truly a classic, with a podium for the ages - a final trio of Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) having seven monuments between them, and two Grand Tour wins.

It really did look like a dress rehearsal for the Tour of Flanders, a week on Sunday, with the big three going clear on the Oude Kwaremont. In fact, if you ignored Van Aert, the eventual winner, it was the decisive move of last year's Flanders, which was won by Van der Poel.

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