Tadej Pogačar lived up to his status as a Tour of Flanders pre-race favourite on Sunday as the Slovenian clinched his second Monuments of 2026 with a trademark dominant solo finish ahead of arch-rival Mathieu van de Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech).
In a carbon copy of his 2025 victory, Pogačar powered away on the third and final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont, dropping Van der Poel to head for the win. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), following a tenaciously long solo pursuit of the two leaders, ended his Flanders debut a distant third.
After UAE Team Emirates-XRG blew the race apart with 100 kilometres to go, closing in on an early breakaway of 13, Pogačar began winding things up in earnest on the second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont with 55 km to go.
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Pogačar left Van der Poel with no options in the finale, following up his first-ever Milan-San Remo victory with his third victory in four years in the Tour of Flanders, leaving the possibility of becoming the first ever rider to secure all five Monuments in a single year very much on the table, too.
“It was a really crazy race today, I don’t know what to say – super-hard from I don’t know which kilometre;” Pogačar told Belgian TV afterwards.
“It was a waiting game, then when the group formed I was happy we kind of cooperated and it was in good favour for me.”
In the finale, he agreed, “For sure I didn’t want Remco back into the group, because I know how much endurance he has and he can always come back in the end and beat you, so I really tried to make a gap and it was good.”
Three wins in three races, two Monuments so far and perhaps another next weekend make for an incredible season, the TV reporter pointed out.
“I don’t race too much, so when I race then it’s special to win,” Pogačar said, “So so far everything went perfect and I can be more than happy. And coming next week to Roubaix I can go motivated and try to enjoy the cobbles.”
How it unfolded
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