Tadej Pogacar wins his eighth monument with the Tour of Flanders. His permanent rival Mathieu van der Poel rank third. The next edition of this duel will take place next Sunday at Paris-Roubaix.
Two and a half hours after his triumph on the tour of the Flanders, Belgium’s largest sports day, Tadej Pogacar appears in the back room of a school cultivation not far from the market square of Oudenaarde and tells of his day on the bike. “It was a big victory, I can’t describe how big it feels for me and how much it means to me” Slovenian says the tired and hungry. He came directly from his waiting area behind the podium, the 800 meter distance from the finish line to school bridged with his racing bike, he was packed thickly, he pulled up the zipper of his warming jacket in the rainbow pattern of the world champion.
Over time, it was cold next to the podium, which he was only allowed to enter together with the second and third place after the finals of the women’s race. And that took a good two hours. This bizarre long waiting time is a curiosity of this cycling monument, the first edition of which was held in 1913.
Kwaremont – moment full of thrill and shouting
This time, however, it went into the 269 kilometer long 109 round, she led from Bruges to Flaches Land into a zigzag course through the Flemish Ardennes with its narrow paths and the nasty Hellingen. These are short, but sometimes extremely steep climbs, places that transform professionals into suspended ones with ambitions. But also places where the madness rages, especially in the passage of the old Kwaremont, one of the most famous hills of this race. The spectators placed up to 11.6 percent in the top in five rows, at least, at least, left and right of the passage, which is just two meters wide, which becomes a cobblestone surface at 2,200 meters. 16 Hellingen are distributed over the course, this time it went three times over this Kwaremont, most recently 18 kilometers before the finish. And until this moment, until this moment full of thrill and shouting from both sides, Pogacar waited to do his opponents.
Tadej Pogacar drives in front on the tour of the Flanders.
The preparatory work was perfect for Pogacar, the captain of the UAE team Emirates after the hectic start and attacks of various groups that were formed. A group led by Pogacar, the Dutch last year’s winner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), whose Belgian rival Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease A Bike) and the robust Danes Mats Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and his Belgian team-mate Jasper Stuyven had had before the final Passage of the old Kwaremont all outliers collected and now formed a quintet. And Van Aert started brilliantly, sprinted into the Kwaremont and had wasted all his chances of winning.
Like Eddy Merckx ‘Time – Crumbs for the opponents
A little later, Pogacar, the current Tour-de France winner and the best mountaineer of the present, jumped off, chased forward, Van Aert looked like a standing driver at that moment. Only van der Poel was able to follow, in short, but under a deciduous tree with a green leaf float, Pogacar was time -wing, 18 kilometers before the finish, chased over the final Helling, the steep Paterberg, continued to expand his lead in the headwind of the final and won 1:01 minutes ahead of his four pursuers in Oudenaarde. What a coup.
And as with Eddy Merckx ‘times, only crumbs remained for Pogacar’s opponents, this time in the form of honorary positions. “He was in another league today”says the second -placed Pedersen. Van der Poel took third place.
Politt: “Tadej wanted us to stay with him”
At Milan-Sanremo in mid-March, van der Poel had resisted the final attack by Pogacar in the Poggio shortly before the home straight together with Filippo Ganna and won in the sprint. Pogacar finished third. Here, however, in the Flemish hills, Pogacar was able to make the difference after almost 250 kilometers of racing distance. And followed a plan that Nils Politt, his helper from Hürth near Cologne, later explained in an interview with the sports show. His opponents’ teams had sent drivers into the primary groups – just not Pogacar. “That was our plan – nobody goes into the groups. Tadej wanted us to stay with him”said Politt.
Tadej Pogacar (left) with Nils Politt
But that was only partially successful. Because with a terrible fall in the back field, 130 kilometers before the finish, Pogacar initially lost two helpers. At this point, after a brutal impact on the asphalt, the race day of the German veteran John Degenkolb ended. The diagnosis is dramatic: break of the elbow, wrist and the keybone. Van der Poel was also involved in this crash, but was bruised his right shoulder, but continued to go back to Pogacar after a good ten kilometers.
Pogacar attacks as planned
The plan discussed in the team meeting of Pogacars and Politt’s team also followed that the decision was made in the third passage of the old Kwaremont: “We had agreed that. At that moment, Tadej should storm. Chapeau, as he did again”says Politt, third place in the Ronde of the previous year. On a sunny and windy race day in Belgium, Pogacar powdered the average for this 269 kilometers, it is now at 44.91 kilometers per hour. Previously, it was 44.48, set up by Van der Poel last year.
Tadej Pogacar (left) and Mathieu van der Poel
The Dutchman, 30 years old, later said that he had to treat an antibiotics shortly before the race. This fact and the exhausting return to the favorites after his fall may have cost him a lot of his strength. But he did not want to assert that as an excuse: “The best won.” Van der Poel has always occupied the podium of the Flanders Tour since 2020. His placements since then: first, second, first, second, first, third. And although this balance is spectacular, the sole victory record of this race is only missing a triumph, the defeat against Pogacar (26) had statistical consequences. 8: 7 it now stands for the Slovenes in relation to the success of monuments, mythical one-day races, which include Milan-Sanremo and the Ronde also Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Lombardy tour.
New duel with the queen of classics
It can be assumed that the discussion of the two will continue next Sunday, then Paris-Roubaix is pending, another monument, the queen of the classics. Van der Poel is the defending champion, Pogacar is a debutant. Will it be 8: 8 afterwards in the duel of the monuments between the two? “It will be a different race. But I really like the challenge”says Pogacar. He also accepts them. During a visit last week, he already made all-time speed records in three out of 30 cobblestone sectors to be driven.