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On the road at the E3 Saxo Bank Classic and then in newsprint ever since, Tadej Pogačar has spent the week leading up to the Tour of Flanders in the company of Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert. If he is to beat them to the Ronde on Sunday, however, the Slovenian knows that he will finally have to lose them somewhere on the road to Oudenaarde.
There is precious little to separate the Big Three as the big day arrives, but in the event of a deadlock, both Van der Poel and Van Aert would probably back themselves in a sprint. Although Pogačar packs a decent turn of speed himself, especially in an endurance race like this – witness his efforts at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 – his likeliest road to victory here is a solitary one.
“I have to have the best legs after a long race,” Pogačar told reporters at the Park Hotel in Waregem on Friday afternoon. “For me, the crucial thing will be to come alone to the finish, that’s how I can win. But that makes it even more hard.”
In Harelbeke last week, Pogačar looked the sharpest of that elite trio on the Paterberg and Kwaremont, but he had to settle for third in a three-up sprint. At last year’s Tour of Flanders, the UAE Team Emirates leader stretched Van der Poel on those same climbs, only for the Dutchman to prove the quicker in Oudenaarde.
It seems inevitable that Pogačar will look to unleash another onslaught on the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg on Sunday. The only question, it seems, is whether the torrent arrives on the first or second time over that key combination.
“It’s a really, really long race, and a lot can happen before the final. I need to save a lot of energy and choose the right moment to go,” said Pogačar. “I don’t have anything in mind. We will see on Sunday how the race goes, how are the legs.”
Such is Pogačar’s assurance on the cobbles, it’s easy to forget that he is stepping a long way from his comfort zone whenever he travels to the Flemish Ardennes. Riders of his build typically don’t compete toe to toe against the heavyweights of the cobbles, but then nothing about Pogačar’s career to date has been typical.
“I weigh a few more kilos now than at the Tour. Two days ago, it was 67kg,” Pogačar said. “I’m not so much lighter than them. And you need power either way. On the flat, for sure, you feel the difference a bit. But on the climbs, even if it’s just two minutes, power is power, so if you’re strong, you can…
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