TWO ONCE- INA- GENERATION RIDERS
We are indisputably in the era of Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert. The pair have eclipsed Peter Sagan and even Julian Alaphilippe as the dominant classics riders in the last two years, and the sport is optimistic that the exhilarating head-to-head battle between them at the Tour of Flanders in 2020 was a preview of a lot more to come in the next few years.
Van der Poel came out on top in that race. Yet overall Van Aert had the better 2020 - he won Milan-San Remo and Strade Bianche, along with two Tour de France stages. Van der Poel had the better 2019, with his spectacular Amstel Gold Race win, while Van Aert was ahead in 2018, with a podium in Strade Bianche and top 10s in Gent-Wevelgem and Flanders. As soon as one seems to halfwheel ahead of the other, it inspires the other to try and overtake right back.
Their rivalry is almost perfect: Belgium and the Netherlands are sporting rivals; they both came through the cyclo-cross scene, swapping world titles along the way (they’re still doing this now); they’re roughly the same age; they have overlapping strengths - Van Aert is the smoother rouleur, and Van der Poel looks more of a fighter, but they are both built for hard one-day races and have very fast finishes… Most importantly, there’s just enough friction between the two of them, and they’re not above marking each other out of races.
They won’t have it all their own way. In a hillier race, the advantage turns back to Alaphilippe, and Mads Pedersen is not far from their level. But if both can hit the classics in form in 2021, we should be due a battle for the ages.