Taddei Pogachar raised his arms in protest, but Dylan van Baarle didn't see it coming. In the Tour of Flanders, Pogachar and Mathieu van der Pol appeared to have caught up to Oude Quaremont in the final time, but he was busy sprinting for the win.

Along with Valentin Maduas, van Baarle eagerly chased the two race's strongest riders all the way to Oudenaarde, and when they stalled just short of the line, the Ineos rider did not hesitate. He circled around Pogachar and dove into van der Pol's handlebars.

Van Baarle was unable to outpace his countryman, but still finished second in the Tour de Flanders. Pogachar managed to finish fourth in a two-horse race.

Shortly after the finish, Pogachar's directeur sportif, Fabio Baldato, visited the jury to explore a possible appeal, but it was determined that Van Baar's sprint was not rigged. Passing through the mixed zone a short time later, van Baar suggested that Pogachar's irritation at the finish line was born of frustration over his own decisions in the last kilometer. He didn't congratulate me after the finish," van Baar said. He was a little angry, but maybe a little frustrated. I don't think I did anything wrong. I just held my line and there was no more space. On the endlessly straight N453 toward Oudenaarde, chasers can keep their prey in sight, but often out of reach. Van Baar and Maduas knew the Ronde race so well that they assumed they were in the battle for third place.

"I could always see them, but I didn't expect it to be like this. I was busy keeping the guys behind me in check and so was Maduás. Maduás was the same way. And all of a sudden they were on the track stand and we were sprinting for the win. It was special. I still can't believe it, we were ready to sprint for third and we ended up second."

Van Baarle kept his momentum going up the Kwaremont after Pogachar and Van der Pol passed him on a steep, uneven cobbled section, keeping his hopes of a podium finish alive. The Dutchman, who had attacked with Fred Wright (Bahrain-Victorias) on the first climb of the Paterberg with 50km to go and anticipated a good run by the pair, did not try to match their hellish tempo here.

"At Couvermont, you race to get over it and still get a result. It's not about trying to keep up with them or maybe explode, it's about managing your effort and making the most of it," van Baare said. I know my limits and I know what I'm capable of. I know my limits and my abilities. This result is based on experience."

A year ago, van Baarle won Dwars door Hlaanderen, but came up short in Ronde. This time, he struggled to say his lines in the midweek slope rehearsal, but in the performance, he outperformed Ineos' hopeful leading man, Tom Pidcock.

"Honestly, I felt really bad on Wednesday. But in the past, we've had good races on Wednesdays and not so good in Flanders. This year we switched it up. I just needed to stay calm, I did my job, and I have a great team around me."

Van Baar's young teammate Ben Turner was part of a dangerous counterattack that cleared Berendries and helped lay the groundwork. But after Pogachar regrouped on the second climb of Quaremont, it was van Baar who took the lead.

Pogachar and van der Pol inevitably had to bridge with Maduas, but van Baar followed up his silver medal at last season's Leuven World Championships with another podium finish at a major event.

"We expected a hard race. Pogachar's onslaught was to my advantage. Winning is always nice, but this result is high on my list." I can't choose between Dwars, here, and last year's World Championships. This means a lot to me."