Pogacar

Pogačar drops Van der Poel to become first Tour de France winner since Eddy Merckx to win Flanders. Mads Pedersen hits third.

Van der Poel was initially caught out when the bunch split in a crosswind sector and the speed ramped up. The main group tried to regroup on the first passage over the Oude Kwaremont as an eight-man leading group widened its lead to north of 5 minutes. Pedersen jumped out of the front group on the Kruisberg to carve a promising gap. Digging deep to bridge across was Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) and Benoit Cosnefroy (Ag2r-Citroën), and the race dynamic quickly changed. The gap was down to one minute, and everything was up for grabs. He lost control and swept right straight into the middle of the peloton. Asgreen led the front group over the Paterberg, with Pogačar doggedly pushing on alone about 15 seconds ahead of Van Aert, Laporte, Van der Poel and Pidcock chasing onto the Paterberg. Trentin continued to chug along in the leading group as Jorgenson and Powless hung tough. It was a time trial all the way to Oudenaarde. With Pedersen dangling off the front, two of the “big three” were caught the leaders heading onto Oude Kwaremont with everything in play. Behind them, a searing attack from Van der Poel at Kuisberg was answered by Pogačar, but Van Aert — riding with a bloody knee — could not match the pace. [Download the app](https://outsideapp.onelink.me/wOhi/6wh1kbvw).

Tadej Pogacar won the Tour of Flanders on Sunday with a searing solo attack in the final 20km on the 274km one-day race.

"Milan-SanRemo looks like the hardest to go and get, and I might need to put on some weight to win (Paris) Roubaix," he said of the remaining two. Pogacar's soaring triumph makes him the first man since the great Eddy Merckx to win both the Tour de France and the Tour of Flanders (1969, 1975). Oudenaarde (Belgium) (AFP) – Tadej Pogacar won the Tour of Flanders on Sunday with a searing solo attack in the final 20km on the 274km one-day race.

Two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar has joked that he can now retire happy from cycling after winning the Tour of Flanders classic for the first ...

“Toughen my hands for the cobbles.” [Paris-Roubaix](https://apnews.com/article/sports-france-europe-wout-van-aert-dylan-baarle-9e4846b1b7c118a66354945a463576), which has even tougher cobbles than Flanders and is being held on April 9. “I’m really sorry for my mistake and causing the crash today. “I can be super happy and proud.” “San Remo is the most difficult one (of the five monuments), I arrived there in good shape this year,” said Pogacar, who “I can say that I can retire after today and I can be proud of my career,” Pogacar said, smiling.

After being outsprinted in 2022, Pogacar looked to win the race on the cobbled climbs as he first distanced Wout van Aert, and then Van der Poel.

While Pogacar will sit out Easter Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix, the likes of Van der Poel, Van Aert and Pedersen will do battle again over the cobblestones of Northern France in the Hell of the North next weekend. It was on this same climb that Van der Poel put in a powerful unseated surge to snap Van Aert’s elastic and push Pogacar to the extreme of his limits. His focus will now switch to the Ardennes ahead of his bid to win a third Tour de France in July. But Pogacar used his supreme time trialling ability to hold the Dutchman at bay and ensure there was no repeat scenario of last year’s race on the home straight. After sitting up over the summit, he was joined by the in-form Jumbo-Visma duo of Van Aert and Christophe Laporte, as well as Van der Poel and Britain’s Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers). Having dropped Van der Poel, he picked off the other escapees and then swept past Pedersen to open up a small but telling gap over the summit. They were later joined by Benoit Cosnefroy (Ag2R-Citroen) and Matteo Jordenson (Movistar) after the duo kicked clear on the climb of Berendries. Maciejuk promptly took to social media to apologise for causing the high-speed crash, which resulted in scores of riders hitting the deck and notably ended the race of the Belgian Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates). While the 23-year-old was able to stay up on two wheels, dozens of riders were not so lucky as carnage ensued in his wake. Denmark’s Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) held off a late surge from Belgium’s Van Aert to secure the final spot on the podium after a strong chase group came home in Oudenaarde over a minute behind. The 107th edition was also the fastest with Pogacar coming home to complete the 273.4km course in an whopping average speed of 44.1kmph. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) wrote the next scintillating chapter in his illustrious career with a remarkable solo victory in the fastest Tour of Flanders ever raced.

Tadej Pogacar claimed his third Monument classic after a brutal attack on the Old Quaremont hill helped him win the Tour of Flanders on Sunday.

I could retire after today and would be proud of my career." Register for free to Reuters and know the full story "I need to gain a few kilos for Paris-Roubaix," he said, in reference to the Queen of the Classics, which features several cobbled sections and favours the heavyweights.

The Slovenian's fourth Monument victory came after an attack for the ages on the final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont.

Behind his brilliance, Van der Poel was left with second place, Wout van Aert and Jumbo Visma the big losers on the day, an early crash, dropped on the Kruisberg and never within touching distance of Pogačar nor his great rival. The two joined the chase group while Jumbo Visma's Van Hooydonck dropped back to aid his leader's chase. Those were the words of Tadej Pogačar this week ahead of the Tour of Flanders, a race he did come to the finish alone in and a race he did indeed also win, not bad for a man who was still

Tadej Pogacar won the Tour of Flanders on Sunday with a searing solo attack in the final 20km on the 274km one-day race to equal the great Eddy Merckx's ...

Tadej Pogacar won the Tour of Flanders on Sunday with a searing solo attack in the final 20km on the 274km one-day race.Pogacar has twice won the Tour of ...

Tadej Pogacar is an “incredibly scary prospect” for everyone in cycling, says Eurosport expert Dan Lloyd.

“To go solo, I knew I had to go on Kwaremont the last time. Although Van der Poel had a real crack at the chase, the gap started to creep up, allowing Pogacar to start his celebrations on the home straight. It was the only way to get to the finish.” “You go back to the Eddy Merckx days and that was probably the last time it happened. I almost cracked on the Paterberg but I knew it was going to be tough. Only Belgian great Eddy Merckx has won three different Monuments before the age of 25.

All-time cycling great Eddy Merckx believes Tadej Pogacar "can win everything" after winning a maiden Tour of Flanders title.

"And did you see Neilson Powless? Ronde van Vlaanderen He’s a debutant who used to race with my son’s team as a U23. [Pogacar is 'incredible scary prospect' for every rider - Lloyd](https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/ronde-van-vlaanderen-1/2023/tadej-pogacar-is-incredibly-scary-prospect-for-every-rider-after-tour-of-flanders-win-dan-lloyd_sto9539718/story.shtml) ['I could retire today and be proud' - Pogacar after brilliant Flanders win](https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/ronde-van-vlaanderen-1/2023/i-could-retire-today-and-be-proud-tadej-pogacar-after-brilliant-tour-of-flanders-win_sto9539353/story.shtml) [said afterwards he "could retire after today and be proud of my career"](https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/ronde-van-vlaanderen-1/2023/i-could-retire-today-and-be-proud-tadej-pogacar-after-brilliant-tour-of-flanders-win_sto9539353/story.shtml). [winning a maiden Tour of Flanders title](https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/ronde-van-vlaanderen-1/2023/tadej-pogacar-topples-mathieu-van-der-poel-in-tour-of-flanders-thriller-wout-van-aert-fourth_sto9539020/story.shtml).

The UAE Team Emirates rider had smashed the Oude Kwaremont KOM, setting the fastest time by 11 seconds.

A little over six hours later he joined the club... The 24-year-old's decisive attack on the final ascent of the Kwaremont was also the fifth fastest time ever set, not bad for someone with a KOM and nearly 260km already in the legs. [activity](https://www.strava.com/activities/8821189932) to the ride-sharing app for us to stare longingly in disbelief at the stats, the most eye-catching of which was his second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont, the one that distanced the entire peloton and had Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert scrambling, and saw him become the first man to go sub-four minutes up the 2.15km segment.

Spencer Martin's initial post-race reactions from one of the biggest one-day races on the calendar. The Tour of Flanders.

- The fact that he is winning so often (he already has 10 wins so far in 2023) across a wide variety of terrain and races means that Pogačar is building a very serious case for being the best rider of all time. After a massive surge on the penultimate pass of the brutal Oude Kwaremont climb that shredded the peloton and pegged back an incredibly strong escape group, Tadej Pogačar stormed clear of an all-star group, including Mathieu van der Poel, on the final ascent of the same climb en route to dominant solo Tour of Flanders victory. - Pogačar simply sat tight and trusted that when he called for his team to burn whatever they had left on the lead-in to the Kwaremont, he would be able to pulverize the breakaway’s gap before dropping any dead weight the next time up the Kwaremont. [Sign up here](https://beyondthepeloton.substack.com/subscribe) for full access. The Tour of Flanders saw Tadej Pogačar stamp his authority in the Flemish finalé, putting his main rivals to the sword. [Beyond the Peloton](https://beyondthepeloton.substack.com) newsletter.

Cycling great Eddy Merckx said Tadej Pogacar had already written himself into the history books at just 24 after the Slovenian equalled the Belgian's ...

You have to consider the meaning of what he has achieved, this is no small thing." He's a great guy, so easygoing, I was won over straight away." While he won major races such as the Tour of Lombardy and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, his exploits perhaps robbed him of an edge in the 21-day Tour de France, where he slipped to second place in 2022.

Slovenian third rider after Merckx and Bobet to take Flanders-Tour de France double.

As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The Independent, The Guardian, ProCycling, The Express and Reuters. "At moments like that, you can regret not winning Gent-Wevelgem,” which Van Aert gifted last Sunday to his teammate Christophe Laporte, and which Merckx said he would not have done in Van Aert's place. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. His presence in these kinds of races is a blessing for cycling fans.” Tadej is an exceptional rider and if he wants, he’s going to have an enormous palmares.” He’s a debutant who used to race with my son’s team as a U23.

With Tour of Flanders victory ticked off, it’s hard to bet against him adding the two remaining Monuments to his palmarès in the years to come.

Tom is a News and Features Writer at Cycling Weekly, and previously worked in communications at Oxford Brookes University. Pogačar puts his money where his mouth is, and if he says he’ll win one of the biggest one-day races on the WorldTour calendar, then you can bet your bottom dollar that he will. Although as he flicked between gritted teeth, and gasping for air, we saw Pogačar truly on his limit when the Kwaremont began to bite. It’s highly unusual to see the Slovenian on his limit. Pogačar’s final knockout punch on the Kwaremont had enough bite to rival a Muhammed Ali right hook. When the elastic finally snapped, it snapped in style. As the longest section of climbing in the race, this was the point to make his mark. He would simply not allow a similar finale to 2022, this time there was no way anyone was coming to the line with him. The race would already be long sewn up. A risky move, although not if you’ve got the firepower to back it up. Whether it’s a major Champions League clash, or a prize Las Vegas fight, you need to be confident in your own ability if you’re going to publicly lay out your game plan. However, being prepared to do so also risks things spectacularly blowing up in your face.

What I mean by that is, when it's a hard race, the strength of the strongest rider will show, and the others will blow earlier. The better you are, the less you ...

Slovenian third rider after Merckx and Bobet to take Flanders-Tour de France double.

With Tour of Flanders victory ticked off, it's hard to bet against him adding the two remaining Monuments to his palmarès in the years to come.