Pogačar was not only thinking about Van der Poel in the finale: ‘I definitely didn’t want Remco there’

What a brutal day it was at the Tour of Flanders. It turned into a magnificent battle between the sport’s so-called big five, but in the end one rider was clearly the strongest by some distance: Tadej Pogačar. The Slovenian managed to drop Mathieu van der Poel on the final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont, but he also personally made sure that Remco Evenepoel could not come back.

The race was blown apart as early as the Molenberg by the world champion’s team. At that point there were still 100 kilometres left to race, but a group of around fifteen favourites had already managed to separate themselves. On the second passage of the Oude Kwaremont, Pogačar began to sort the contenders from the pretenders, before riding clear on the penultimate climb and powering solo to his third victory in Flanders.

That the race opened up so early was part of the plan. But it clearly cost the Slovenian a great deal too. “It was a crazy race today,” he said in the flash interview afterwards. “I don’t know what to say. It was very hard from really early on, and after that it became a bit of a waiting game. But we still had to keep pushing all the time. I was happy that we could work together a little bit, and that worked to my advantage.”eep pushing the whole time. I was glad we could work together a bit; that worked in my favor.'

Van der Poel certainly wasn’t taking turns at full power, but Pogacar kept pumping hard. That meant Evenepoel, who had to drop back on the Paterberg, just couldn’t close the gap. At times, he could almost touch them. “I definitely didn’t want Remco there, because I know what his endurance is like,” laughs the eventual winner. ‘He can overcome anything. I wanted to maintain the gap, and luckily I managed to do that.’

For the powerhouse, the tally stands at three wins after three races this year. “I don’t race too often, do I? When I do race, there’s pressure to win. So far, everything has gone perfectly for me, and I’m more than happy about that.” Next Sunday may bring his biggest test yet: Paris-Roubaix. It’s the last Monument he still needs to win. “Next week, I’ll head to Roubaix with motivation. I’ll try to enjoy the cobblestones.”