Slovenia's cycling megastar wins Tour of Flanders in solo style

Slovenia's cycling megastar Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) added another title to his impressive palmares as he won the Tour of Flanders, one of the five Monuments, on 6 April in what was his second victory in the prestigious one-day race. Eighteen kilometres to go, he rode clear to victory.

Denmark's Mads Petersen (Lidl-Trek) and Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands (Alpecin-Deceuninck) finished second and third, respectively, in a sprint finish, both one minute and one second behind the Slovenian, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

Initially, Pogačar made sure he sat inside the top 20, staying out of the wind but able to get to the front if needed.

Van der Poel was involved in a major crash in the middle of the race, but managed to get back on his bike and catch up with the main group.

The 269 km race got truly interesting 56 kilometres to the finish line when the favourites went for it and rode clear.

Pogačar kept attacking in an attempt to get rid of the rivals, but it seemed as if they matched his strength.

However, 18 kilometres to go, on the cobbled Oude Kwaremont climb, he stepped up, went full-gas and rode clear to victory in what was reminiscent of the way he won the Tour of Flanders in 2023 too. In another appearance in the race, which starts in Bruges and ends in Oudenaarde, he finished fourth in 2022.

"The goal was to win, but in the end it's hard to realise it. But we did it and I could not be more proud of the team," he told the organisers.

"Even though we had some bad luck, in the end all was good," he added, referring to crashes that affected his team. "We never gave up, kept coming back...even with setbacks, they did it perfectly," the Slovenian lauded his teammates.

Pogačar, 26, now looks ahead to Paris-Roubaix, another Monument which is also known as the Hell of the North because of its cobbled sections. The race will take place next Sunday.

He intends to do his best there. The Tour of Flanders suits him a bit better, "but with this shape I have now, I should give Paris-Roubaix a try," he said.

Wearing the rainbow jersey of the world champion, he is expected to take part in all five Monument races this year. In Milan-San Remo, the first Monument of the season, he placed third.

Known for his rare ability to win Grand Tours as well as one-day races, he now has 93 wins to his name, including eight Monument victories.