It's a miracle it didn't happen earlier, but Ghent-Wevelgem's thrilling finale revealed the deep rivalry between lifelong rivals Wout Van Art (Jumbo Visma) and Mathieu Van Der Pol (Alpecin Phoenix) The two were now in the In a tactical finale, the two turned on each other and finished last in the group of nine that vied for victory in Wevelgem.

For the first time in their long rivalry, van Aal could not hide his irritation immediately after the race, accusing van der Pol of marking him and wanting to see him lose rather than give himself a chance to win.

"It was a hard race and as expected the group got away in Kemelberg. It's a shame I didn't win because my legs were in good shape. I missed my chance," Van Aert said.

Asked if he felt like anyone was marking his moves, van Aert pointed specifically to van der Pol. Apparently he wanted to see me lose rather than create a chance for himself to win."

Van der Pol quickly responded that Van Art's words were a bit shallow, as he was racing to win, as always.

"Wout's reaction is odd. He is one of the best riders in the front group and if he goes, of course I have to react. If I didn't, the team would ask me, 'Why didn't you react when he went? It is a little bit shallow to say I ran to beat him. I always run to win races," van der Pol told Sporza.

With the Tour de Flanders, the final one-day race of the North Classics, just a week away, the little war of words between these two titans is sure to be a major topic of discussion heading into the Ronde.

Over the past decade, Van der Pol and Van Art have competed in countless races; the two have competed in cyclocross since the junior category and have already shown since 2016 that they are up and coming on the road. Van der Pol has won Dwars door Vlaanderen, Brabantse Pijl, and, unforgettably, the 2019 Amstel Gold Race. Van Art has had brilliant success on the road, winning three stages in Milan-San Remo, Strade Bianche, and the Tour de France.

On Sunday in Ghent-Wevelgem, it was van der Pol who opened the battle for the win by accelerating furiously on Plug Street, 70km from the finish, to pull away from a group of nine riders, including eventual winner Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo). Van Aert accelerated hard on the second climb of the Kemmelberg with 50km to go, followed by last year's Tour de Flanders winner Alberto Bettiol (EF Pro Cycling), second place Florian Seneschal (Desseuninck-Quick Step) and Van der Pol. Several more riders bridged up, and the chase group worked well together until they reached the final climb of the Kemelberg, 30 km from the finish.

But late in the race, as attacks began to fly, with Bettiol often making the first move, Van Aert closed the gap with 5 km to go and continued on his own. "Who will mark the first move?" a long chase put everyone back on the Belgian's wheel. It was Van der Pol.

When Van Aert was caught, Grouppama-FDJ's Stephane Kühn attacked, and once again Van Aert closed the gap on the Swiss time trial specialist, while Seneschal and Bettiol also bridged up, forming a strong four-man group with 3.5 km to go. The others looked at each other and eventually Van der Pol chased the foursome, with Trentin closing the remaining meters.

The poker game continued, and at the 2km banner Bettiol accelerated with Matteo Trentin (CCC) and Seneschal in tow. Van Aert was the first to react, but John Degenkolb (Lotto Soudal) and Van der Pol refused to give chase. Pedersen then made a furious push for the lead group and eventual victory, while Van Aert and Van der Pol checked each other out. In the last kilometer, Van Aert's last move under the red flag was marked by Van der Pol. From there, Van Aert marked Van der Pol, and Degenkolb, Kühn, and Yves Lampert (Deceuninck-Quickstep) were able to break away. Van Aert passed Van der Poel for 8th place.

"Van der Poel seemed to forget that I had already won many times. Now we both ended up empty-handed."

"I rode to win the race but didn't get the freedom. If it came down to a sprint, we had a chance. I knew the attacks would continue, but I couldn't keep reacting to every move and it was always the same rider on my wheel. It is his right to act this way, but now we have nothing on each other.

"I am ready for the Tour de Flanders. I won a lot of good races this year. I could have played a little poker to win the race, but it didn't work out today."

Van der Pol said in another interview that he knew the last few kilometers would be a tactical race and that he did not intend to react to every move.

"The group was too big to ride all the way to the finish. From there it was a gamble. There were some riders I couldn't take my eyes off," van der Pol said. Obviously, Wout was one of the fastest guys in the group, and then there was Degenkolb and Trentin. Pedersen is one of them, but he can play a little more poker when the group is advancing."

The Dutch ace explained that he emptied himself to bring Van Aert back 4km before the finish: "I used the sprint to catch a group of four guys (Van Aert, Kühn, Bettiol, Seneschal) in the last kilometer. It was a gamble. It was a question of making that effort or having no chance at all of winning. From there, there was nothing left to do. When the decisive move was made, I was at my limit."

After hearing van Art's remarks, van der Pol returned from the Alpecin Phoenix team bus, where he had been showering, and corrected something in Sporza's studio near the goal.

When asked by moderator Karl Vaniukelke how he would rate himself compared to Van Aert, he replied: "On the climb, I think we were evenly matched. From there on, I felt he made the better impression. My best leg was long gone by then. If he went it alone, I would have to go after him. In my opinion, I was still running to win the race at that point. I kept believing in that. When I closed the gap to the top four riders, there was nothing left for me to do. I looked back and saw the whole pack glued to my wheel. I hoped I could bridge up alone, but it was not to be. I was at my limit."

"I don't blame him [Van Aert] at all," Van der Pol continued. "I chased him a few times, but I wanted to win the race. He is one of the strongest riders in the world right now. If I don't chase him, I can't win the race. That's bike racing. We were close to each other."

Asked if he would send Van Aert an email, Van der Pol said he had no intention of doing so.

"No, he will read about this. I'm not mad at him, but I just wanted to make my point," van der Pol said.

He added that he had no regrets about skipping last month's World Championships because he thought he would not have been in the first group at the top of the final climb, as he was in Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

"Skipping the World Championships allowed me to do a training block in Livigno (Italy) and get back to the level I needed before the Classic," van der Pol said.

Asked if he was feeling confident ahead of the Tour of Flanders, Van der Pol was his usual confident self: "You have to be confident. It will be a very hard race. It is difficult to win. With Kemmelberg's pass, I knew I was doing well. That gives me confidence."