Pogačar earns a hat trick of Ronde van Vlaanderen titles

Sunday’s second Monument of the season, the 110th Ronde van Vlaanderen, was the second one that Tadej Pogačar has claimed. The Slovenian now has a hat trick of Ronde victories and a dozen Monuments on his palmares. It took the world champion until the final passage of Oude Kwaremont to unhitch Mathieu van der Poel. In his first attempt, Remco Evenepoel took third.

Preliminaries

Last year Pogačar achieved his eighth Monument, the world champion making a decisive attack on the Oude Kwaremont with 45 km remaining to cart off his second Ronde trophy. The world champion had won Strade Bianche and Milan-Sanremo in the first two races of his season.

Nickolas Zukowsky was the sole Canadian.

The Course

Longer than last year’s edition and rolling from Antwerp to Oudenaarde instead of Bruge to Oudenaarde, the route held sixteen climbs, most of them cobbled and arriving in the latter half of the day. The formidable cobbled duo of Oude Kwaremont–Paterberg would be tackled twice and comprised the day’s final ascents. The Koppenberg, Taaienberg and Oude Kruisberg/Hotond were possible ambush points as well. The last Paterberg (400 meters of 8.9 percent) peaked 17 km from the finish line on the Minderbroedersstraat.

A 13-strong breakaway got loose in the early stages of the race, hitting the first ascent of Oude Kwaremont with a 5:00 lead. UAE-Emirates pulled the peloton over the Eikenberg, Wolvenberg and Molenberg, where a selection was made. This Molenberg decanting saw Pogačar, van der Poel, Wout van Aert, Evenepoel, Mads Pedersen and Jasper Stuyven. With 100 km remaining, the Pogačar group was +2:00 of the breakaway.

With the Valkenberg looming, rain started to pummel the course. The world champion led up the climb. Just before the Berg Ten Houte, with 77 km to go, the elite 16 met the breakaway dozen. Again, Pogačar led the way.

The First Pairing of Oude Kwaremont/Paterberg

On the second passage of the Kwaremont, the Slovenian wizard attacked, snapping off the front of the group. Evenepoel, van der Poel, Van Aert and Pedersen fastened on. Pedersen couldn’t hang on and Evenepoel struggled. On the transition to the Paterberg, it was Van Aert’s turn to struggle, and the Belgian couldn’t keep up. Evenepoel lost ground on the Paterberg.