Tadej Pogačar denies Mathieu Van der Poel record-breaking win as world champion soloes to second Tour of Flanders victory

Draped in rainbow and rocking pink sunglasses, Tadej Pogačar was effortless, ingenious and incredible — all adjectives we are used to seeing being associated with the 26-year-old Slovenian. On a sunny day on Flemish cobbles, he not only thwarted the likes of Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen, but also became the seventh male cyclist to win the coveted monument as a world champion.

The race was marked by several breakaway groups, with UAE Team Emirates doing a chunk of the work in chasing down the gap from the main peloton.

The race had its first dramatic moment with over 100km to go, with last year’s winner and Pogačar’s primary rival Van der Poel, involved in a crash that also saw a couple of UAE riders involved, including Florian Vermeersch, Jhonatan Narváez, and Tim Wellens — the latter two forced to abandon and leaving Pogačar lacking in teammates.

Tadej Pogačar at the 2025 Tour of Flanders (credit: Kate Milsom)

With fans eager to see where the three-time Tour de France champion and winner of Flanders in 2023 launches his attack, the first surge of acceleration came with 56km to go, as Pogačar dragged along Van der Poel, Van Aert, Pedersen, Neilson Powless, and Jasper Stuyven.

A few small, unconvincing bursts aside, it looked like that elite selection of riders was destined to go to the finish together, until Van Aert, after losing the sprint in dramatic circumstances at Dwars door Vlaanderen earlier in the week, decided to test his rivals while approaching the Oude Kwaremont.

His lead was, however, short-lived as the home hero was quickly chased down by Pogačar — and unlike the images of Van der Poel sitting tight on his wheel from Milan-Sanremo, the three-time winner at Flanders was seen struggling for the first time in the race.

Tadej Pogačar launches an attack, with a group including Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert hot on his heels! 👀 pic.twitter.com/X1Kzg9vTOy

— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) April 6, 2025

And once en route to the all-important Kwaremont, Pogačar, with one final deep dig, went clear. By the time he was approaching the last climb of Paterberg, the gap had grown to 25 seconds.

With five kilometres to go, the gap was up to 45 seconds, and from there on, it was a champion’s ride from the man in the rainbow jersey. When he crossed the finish line, arms up in the air, he was almost a minute up.

Behind him, it was a sprint for the podium places, won by Mads Pedersen with Van der Poel coming home to take third place. Wout van Aert, despite a strong showing, could only bag the fourth spot.

Tadej Pogacar wins the Tour of Flanders AGAIN! 👏👏👏

🌈 The rainbow jersey cruises to a solo victory in the final race of the Belgium classics. #RVV pic.twitter.com/RDaHRyP7ds

— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) April 6, 2025

“The goal was to win but in the end it’s hard to realise it,” Pogačar said after his win. “We did it, and I cannot be more proud of the team and how we raced today, even though we had some bad luck. But in the end, all was good and I’m so happy to win this race in this jersey.

“The plan was to go from [Oude Kwaremont] and we always followed the plan, even if we had some crashes in the team with my teammates. We made it and we stuck to it and we finished it off.

“There was a crash on the big road. I think Mathieu crashed there. We lost Jhonatan [Narváez], Tim [Wellens] and Florian [Vermeersch] as well. Florian somehow chased back all race more or less and made it just in time to lead out on the Kwaremont, so chapeau to him.

“We never gave up, all the riders were coming back. They went above themselves to do the plan, and even with the setbacks, they did it perfectly.

> Tragedy at Tour of Flanders sportive as two cyclists confirmed dead, one from heart failure on Taaienberg and another after “collapsing” on Oude Kwaremont

 

 

 

 

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When asked about if he could pull a repeat of the same at Paris-Roubaix in a week’s time, Pogačar said: “Roubaix is a completely different race but I will accept the challenge, and I’ll try to do my best. I know that Flanders suits me a bit better, but you never know.

“Roubaix is also a very hard race, but I think that with the shape I am in now, I should give it a try.”

While Pogačar marked his eighth monument victory and an astonishing 93rd pro cycling win, Van der Poel, who has won this race in 2020, 2022, and 2024, lost out on the opportunity to beat the likes of Fabian Cancellara and Tom Boonen to become the only male rider to have won De Ronde a record-breaking four times.

Pogačar’s win, alongside Lotte Koppecky’s record-breaking third De Ronde title, means that both men’s and women’s world champions have won the Tour of Flanders this year.

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