Mathieu van der Pol (Alpecin-Phoenix) and Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) marked each other last weekend in Gent-Wevelgem, and while van Aert had harsh words for his lifelong rival, the Dutch champion is relaxed ahead of the Tour de Flanders, saying the incident was a "closed chapter" and that he would "not lose sleep over it."

"As of Sunday, for me it was already an over event. It's just a race, there's no such thing as losing sleep over it," van der Pol said on Friday.

The Tour of Flanders is the final decider of the 2020 road racing season for the two young stars and also van der Pol's last chance to claim a major one-day victory in the classic since the Paris-Roubaix race was canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

In a video interview with the team, van der Pol said he learned a few things from his debut at the 2019 Tour de Flanders. While trying to improve his position on the outside of the peloton, he suddenly faced a traffic island, tried to bunny hop the curb, got a flat tire, and crashed on the handlebars.

A lesson was learned, van der Pol said.

"If you don't make the first 20 or 30, don't stress. Maybe last year I was too stressed out about wanting to finish in the top 10 at Quaremont. I would rather be in 40th place at Quaremont than lying on the ground."

Another lesson van der Pol learned from last year's 270 km course was to enjoy races of this distance, and he regretted that this year's race was shortened to 243.3 km.

After crashing in 2019, Van der Pol made a furious pursuit and returned to the peloton. He missed the winning move that Alberto Bettiol (EF Pro Cycling) showed on the final climb of the Quaremont, but fought his way to fourth place at the finish.

"I think [the short race] is a disadvantage for me," van der Pol said.

"I like the length of the race, I feel it makes a difference. At the end of the race everyone is tired and it's a mental game ....... I like that part of racing."

This year, Van der Pol said the perfect scenario would be to mimic Alberto Bettiol's winning move in 2019 and run solo to the finish.

"It would be difficult to do so, but we'll see what happens."

With 16.7 km to go, the top of the final climb up Oude Kwaremont is still to come before the run-in to the finish on the Paterberg, but Van der Pol said an attack there is not too far off.

"If you are the strongest, it is never too early. We saw Bettiol attack at Cvalemont and maintain that gap all the way to the finish. It depends on the race conditions and the riders coming up behind you."

"It depends on the race conditions and the riders coming up behind you.

Van der Pol, who prefers to ride solo, is also confident in sprinting.

"After a race like the Tour of Flanders, I may not be the fastest rider, but I think I am one of the strongest sprinters.

Van der Pol's sprint was not seen in Ghent-Wevelgem, but the Dutch rider said he hopes to have better legs on Sunday after a week of recovery. He said he expects to outperform the leading riders such as Van Aert and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quickstep), but said there are other riders to watch out for.

"I see them as my biggest rivals, but I noticed that in Ghent-Wevelgem there are a lot of players with good legs.

"It will be a hard, open race. （The Kemmelberg (in Ghent-Wevelgem) is similar to the climbs we do in the Ronde, so I think it will be the same kind of athletes."