Tadej Pogacar topples Mathieu van der Poel in Tour of Flanders thriller, Wout van Aert fourth
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) toppled Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin–Deceuninck) to win a maiden Tour of Flanders title in a performance for the ages.
The two-time Tour de France champion, who somehow contrived to finish fourth in a two-horse race in 2022, made his decisive attack on the penultimate climb – the Oude Kwaremont – distancing Van der Poel and quickly reeling in, and then passing, lone leader Mads Pedersen (Trek–Segafredo).
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He crested the final climb – the Paterberg – with a 14-second lead over Van der Poel, leaving a 12km time trial into the finish in Oudenaard. Although Van der Poel had a real crack at the chase, the gap started to creep up, allowing Pogacar to start his celebrations on the home straight.
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Pedersen saw off Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) in the sprint for third.
Pogacar joins Eddy Merckx as the second rider to win three different Monuments before the age of 25. Pogacar has won Liege–Bastogne–Liege (2021) and Giro di Lombardia (2021 and 2022), with Milano-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix the only Monuments missing from his bulging palmarès.
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