Tadej Pogacar wins Mathieu van der Poel duel at cycling’s Tour of Flanders
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Slovenian Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates celebrates after winning the men's race of the Tour of Flanders.
PHOTO: AFP
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OUDENAARDE – Tadej Pogacar paid tribute to his team after he won an epic showdown at the Tour of Flanders on April 6, with Mads Pedersen edging out Mathieu van der Poel to second a minute later and Wout van Aert fourth.
The duel between the Slovenian and Dutch defending champion van der Poel played out across the 17 hills in bright sunshine before Pogacar broke away.
World champion Pogacar, who won both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in 2024, collected his eighth one-day Monument, moving ahead of one-day specialist van der Poel on seven.
“The goal was to win but at the end, it’s hard to realise. I cannot be more proud of the team,” said a beaming Pogacar, who rides for UAE Team Emirates, at the end of the 270km slog before 750,000 boisterous roadside fans.
The event is not only a key event on the cycling calendar but also a shared national experience in Belgium.
“Tadej pulled off a great show for cycling,” said UAE Team Emirates manager Mauro Gianetti.
For once, the race embarked under bright blue skies heading into the lush green Flanders fields with windmills and happy weekend crowds gathered round beer tents.
Of the main contenders, Filippo Ganna, second at the Milan-San Remo in March, broke at 100km with fellow Italian Matteo Trentin. But they were caught and overtaken by Pogacar and van der Poel with 60km to go and the pair then began an infernal struggle to drop one another.
Van Aert caught up with the pair and briefly dropped them both. When Pogacar retaliated, van der Poel had nothing left in the tank. Riding on his own into a headwind, Pogacar then pulled a minute ahead of his rivals.
“He’s in a league of his own,” said runner-up Pedersen. “Quite frankly, I thought we’d be able to get him back.”
The one-day circus now moves on to the Paris-Roubaix mudfest on April 13, where a similar set of contenders will scrap it out on the cobbled mining roads of the Belgium and France border region.
It will be Pogacar’s first appearance in the race.
From left: Second-placed Mads Pedersen of team Lidl-Trek, winner Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates XRG and third-placed Mathieu van der Poel of team Alpecin-Deceuninck celebrate on the podium.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
“Roubaix is a completely different race but I will accept the challenge and try to do my best. Flanders suits me better but with the shape I’m in now, I should give it a try,” added Pogacar.
There are five ultra-long one-day bike races known as the Monuments, and the Tour of Flanders is considered the greatest because of the constant steep and narrow climbs.
The other four Monuments are Milan-San Remo, which calls for patience, the Paris-Roubaix with its perilous rough-hewn cobbles, Liege-Bastogne-Liege through the winding forested lanes of the Ardennes, and the Il Lombardia, which is a climbers’ classic. AFP
