Wow! Mathieu van der Poel Miraculously Avoids Crash on Molenberg with Incredible Save

The 81st edition of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad was full of incidents, with multiple crashes and other moments of bad luck. Top favorite Mathieu van der Poel managed to escape all the chaos for now, although it was very close on the Molenberg.

It was Florian Vermeersch who was the first among the favorites to crest the Molenberg. Van der Poel followed closely behind but then experienced a moment of sheer panic. It was actually his compatriot Rick Pluimers who crashed from second position.

Van der Poel seemed to have no space or time left to avoid the fall but miraculously managed to stay upright. The leader of Alpecin–Deceuninck had to almost jump over Pluimers’ helmet, but incredibly, he pulled it off.

Watch here Van der Poel’s spectacular save on the Molenberg:

El primer milagro de Van der Poel en 2026.

Mathieu sortea la caída de Trentin en el Molenberg, muro clave de Nieuwsblad, y se va junto a Florian Vermeersch.#OHN26 pic.twitter.com/XENm9ietVs

— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) February 28, 2026

Van der Poel then used his explosiveness (and probably some adrenaline) to close the gap with Vermeersch and immediately took over the lead. After the top of this cobbled climb, Tim van Dijke managed to join the duo, after which the chase began on the remaining breakaway riders.

https://www.wielerflits.nl/live/liveblog-omloop-het-nieuwsblad-2026-mis-niets-van-het-vlaamse-openingsweekend/