Tadej Pogacar After Milan-Sanremo, he also wins the second cycling monument of the year with the Tour of Flanders. The Slovenian won again as a soloist, this time ahead of Mathieu van der Poel.
The last few meters on the way to the picturesque town Oudenaarde in the Belgian province of East Flanders was another triumph for Pogacar, the man in the rainbow jersey of the current world champion. Just one kilometer before the finish line of the 110th edition of the Tour of Flanders, the Slovenian greeted the camera with a cheering fist. Shortly afterwards he rode towards victory as a soloist with his arms raised. It was his third triumph in his third start this year.
And because the number three obviously has a special role for Pogacar at this stage of the season, it can be added that the world’s best rider today also won the Ronde van Vlaanderen, one of the five monuments of cycling, for the third time on Sunday. This makes him one of the eight record winners of this difficult classic.
Challenge failed because “Tadej is simply the best”
One of them is Mathieu van der Poel, who won the Tour of Flanders in 2020, 2022 and 2024. The Dutchman started this spring to finish this challenge as a record winner. It failed because “Tadej is simply the best”. Van der Poel came second, 34 seconds behind the winner.
The Easter Sunday edition was billed as the Big Four race, meaning the quartet of current best one-day drivers. In addition to Pogacar and van der Poel, this also includes the Belgians Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Art. And in fact, exactly this quartet placed first to fourth. Evenepoel (+1:11 minutes), captain of the German team Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, achieved third place in his Ronde debut, van Aert (+2:04 minutes) came fourth. The best German on Sunday was Cologne Pogacar helper Nils Politt in 34th place.
Handshake among champions: Mathieu van der Poel congratulates winner Tadej Pogacar
Van der Poel on the podium for the seventh time
But did the big four really start? Van der Poel narrowed down this classification before the start: “Actually, it’s not about the big four, but about one big one. Pogacar will be hard to beat.” But the defeated van der Poel has achieved a mark that is unique: he made it onto the podium at the Tour of Flanders for the seventh time in a row on Sunday.
I gave it my all, but it wasn’t enough.
Pogacar, by far the strongest driver of the day, felt the race was “crazy and super hard. At a certain point it was a waiting game. I’m more than happy.” Van der Poel said: “Realistically, Tadej Pogacar is simply the best. I gave it my all, but it wasn’t enough.“
The Tour of Flanders, Belgium’s biggest racing day, is a spectacle; as in previous years, an estimated one million people lined the critical points of the 278.2 kilometer route, the slipways and the poisonous climbs. 16 of these tests stand in a labyrinth-like manner around the destination Oudenaarde, 13 different ones that have to be approached in many loops, including right-left combinations. Only three of these tough requirements do not have cobblestones. In addition to the sheer length of the course and the strong wind with periods of rain that prevailed on Sunday, the difficult surface plays a decisive role in the physical demands on the riders. The gradients are already up to 20 percent steep, but hopping over the cobblestones at high speeds is an additional torture, especially for the wrists.
De-luxe field with top quartet chasing breakaways
As expected, the 110th version of the Tour of Flanders gained enormous momentum with increasing slipways. The peloton with the favorites initially gave 13 breakaways a lot of freedom. They were allowed to escape the field for up to 5:15 minutes. But from climb six, the Berendries, just under 95 kilometers from the finish, the lead quickly disappeared. The favorites had already said goodbye to the peloton in the Molenberg slipway, almost 100 kilometers before the finish. A 16-man deluxe field formed behind the breakaways, including the top quartet Pogacar, van der Poel, Evenepoel and van Aert.
78 kilometers from the finish, the breakaways were caught, then the race started again and was now rushing towards its decision. Pogacar was always attentive and always at the front of the field, which became increasingly smaller. The question now was: How long will Pogacar, the world champion and four-time Tou de France winner with the built-in attack mode, keep his patience and his legs still?
Decisive attack 18 km from the finish
On the second crossing of the Kwaremont, 55 kilometers from the finish, the quartet was finally alone at the front. Van Aert, on the other hand, was only able to keep up with the other three for a short time. A few kilometers away, on the first of two passages of the steep Paterberg, Pogacar only had one companion: van der Poel. Because now Evenepoel also fell away.
Pogacar and van der Poel on the Paterberg, Evenpoel (back) has to be demolished.
The double Olympic champion struggled alone in the pursuit, but he could no longer get to one of the rear wheels of the two leaders. Pogacar searched for and finally found the decision on the third entry into the Kwaremont, 18 kilometers from the finish. Short acceleration, hard kick – the decisive gap to van der Poel opened up, which the Dutchman could no longer close. The race was decided.
I am happy that we have cooperated very well for a long time.
“The group with me and the other favorites formed early, but that was fine with me. I’m happy that we cooperated very well for a long time,” Pogacar said. At least as long as he allowed it.
Pogacar celebrates his victory in Oudenaarde
Pogacar now second Cycling Memorial Honor Roll
Pogcar has now won the first two Monuments of the year, Milan-Sanremo in March and the Tour of Flanders on Easter Sunday. In a week he will start alongside van der Poel as the top favorite at monument number three, Paris-Roubaix. Like the Tour of Flanders, he won date number four in this series – Liège-Bastogne-Liège – last year. This also applies to the Tour of Lombardy, which concludes the series of one-day monuments in October: Pogacar recently won there five times in a row. Since Sunday, the Slovenian has been in second place on the cycling memorial list of honors with twelve successes. She leads Eddy Merckx with 19 wins. One might add, given the tremendous Pogacar dominance.
Pogacar still has the chance to be the first rider in cycling history to win all five of these particularly difficult one-day races in one year. How does he feel about this? “So far everything has gone perfectly for me. I haven’t competed that often this year. But when I do compete, I want to win. A win like that obviously increases motivation.” Paris-Roubaix can come for him.
