Some defeats feel like victories, and for both Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo) and Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious), watching Tadej Pogačar’s back wheel disappear into the middle distance on the closing metres of the Mur de Huy was hardly likely to be pleasurable.
But they could at least take consolation that of all the 2023 Flèche Wallonne peloton, their ringside seats for watching Pogačar’s latest display of crushing superiority were the closest.
Eleven years separate Landa, 33, from the up-and-coming Skjelmose, whose second place has all the feel of being another major step forward for the young Dane.
But despite the age gap, both agreed that when it comes to Pogačar and being beaten by the rider who has now taken twelve victories in one of the most spectacular Spring Classics campaigns in years, if not decades, there can be no sense of disgrace.
“Somebody’s got to be second or third, no?” Landa said post-race, putting his refreshing unwillingness to beat around the bush on display again. “The first of the mortals. This is what it is. He’s superior, a super good rider, and it’s difficult to beat him.”
“I didn’t have a plan, I only wanted to keep in a good position as we climbed,” Landa recognised. “The idea is just not to explode so you can handle even the last 100 metres.
“Today, UAE had a very strong team which wanted to keep things under control until Pogačar reached the Mur de Huy in the best situation possible. And that’s what they did.
“In any case, this is a result that makes me feel very confident because, in the previous week, I haven’t been feeling so great. It’s also a very good sign for Liège-Bastogne-Liège.”
Winless since the Vuelta a Burgos in 2021, Landa always tends to start his seasons well. But his latest podium finish comes at the end of his most consistent first third of the year in a long time.
Seventh in the season-opener Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, his first-ever podium finish in Flèche comes after a second place overall in the Itzulia Basque Country and fifth in Cataluña.
Landa was also second behind a certain Slovenian in the Vuelta a Andalucia in February, of course, and he recognised post-Flèche that “of course, we can say that it’s tough always to finish behind Pogačar or [Remco] Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep).”
“But it’s always the same. When I turned pro, I always had Purito [Joaquim Rodriguez], Valverde and Contador to fight,” he pointed out, referring to the…
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