Greig Leach

The race today came down to the two favorites sprinting it out for the win. Both Mathieu Van Der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) and Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) waited as long as possible to start their sprint, each not wanting to give the other a chance to get around them. But with the chasing group just about two hundred meters behind, it was time to sprint it out between themselves. It was a little unclear who had taken the victory until we got a look at the photo finish. The photo confirmed that Van Der Poel had just beaten Van Aert by the length of his deep dish carbon wheel. The pair are evenly matched and they showed it by just how close the finish of Ronde Van Vlaanderen was. It may well have been the closest finish of the race since it first started 107 years ago. I tried to confirm that but the Pro Cycling Stats website only gives the time margins which shows the last five races have been close, but doesn't give the physical distance between finishers.