Van der Poel shows Tour form with Belgium blitz

Dutchman dominates second race back after Paris-Roubaix win, reports Vern Pitt

- Vern Pitt

Mathieu van der Poel showed the sparkling form he’ll be bringing to the Tour de France next month with a dominant victory at the Belgium Tour.

Having taken the leader’s jersey with fourth place in the stage-three time trial, the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader stamped his authority on proceedings by taking off solo from the front of the race on the hilly fourth stage.

The Dutchman went solo with 36km to go and swiftly built a lead of 30 seconds. Attacks from behind in the race’s closing stages failed to bring him back, and his eventual winning margin on the day was 16 seconds.

The Dutchman went solo with 36km to go and swiftly built a lead of 30 seconds. Attacks from behind in the race's closing stages failed to bring him back, and his eventual winning margin on the day was 16 seconds.

Van der Poel then just had to ride in with the bunch on the race's final sprint day to seal a general classification victory by 40 seconds over Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X).

Alpecin-Deceuninck are due to take the Paris-Roubaix champion to the Tour de France this year alongside sprinter Jasper Philipsen. He'll likely target the lumpier stages while his team-mate is set on challenging for the green jersey.