Tadej Pogacar is expanding his collection of monuments. Two weeks after winning his first Milan-San Remo, the world champion unsurprisingly won the Tour of Flanders for the third time in his career after a lively race. Mathieu van der Poel, as often happens, finished behind him. For his first participation, Remco Evenepoel showed his grinta to achieve an excellent third place.
The last rider to drop out after the flight of the Pogacar-Van der Poel tandem, the leader of Red Bull – Bora offered the Belgian public a nice resistance act by remaining less than ten seconds behind the two men for long kilometers, before definitively exploding during the last pass on the cobblestones of Old Kwaremont.
Heading for Paris-Roubaix for Pogacar
It is in the same place and as usual that Tadej Pogacar chose to leave Mathieu Van der Poel company. The Dutchman quickly let go of the Slovenian’s wheel and, if he did not completely explode at first, had to resolve to surrender at the top of Paterberg a few kilometers later, leaving Pogacar free to reach the finish line alone and without ever being worried.
With this twelfth victory in a Monument, the Slovenian overtakes Roger de Vlaeminck and is now alone second in the all-time rankings behind the “Goat” Eddy Merckx. Next week, the UAE leader will try to finish the game once and for all by winning the only monument that eludes him: Paris-Roubaix.
Leave a Reply