Tour of Flanders: Indomitable Tadej Pogačar solos to repeat victory after Oude Kwaremont attack

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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Van der Poel and Evenepoel followed in his wake, but the Belgian began losing contact on the Paterberg, leaving it to the two previous winners to battle it out.

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

A flurry of early attacks, including one move by Colby Simmons (EF Education-EasyPost) over the first 30 kilometres, culminated in a successful challenge by 13 riders to go clear and form the first full break of the day.

With 250 kilometres to go, Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Frederik Frison (Pinarell Q36.5), Victor Vercouillie (Flanders - Baloise), Jambaljamts Sainbayar and Eric Fagundez (both Burgos Burpellet BH), Kamil Gradek (Bahrain - Victorious), Luke Lamperti (EF Education - EasyPost), Connor Swift (Inoes Grenadiers), Luc Van Boven (Lotto-Intermarché), Dries De Pooter Dries (Jayco-AlUla), Julius van den Berg Julius (Picnic PostNL), Edoardo Zamperini Edoardo (Cofidis) and Harthijs de Vries (Unibet Rose Rockets) opened up a gap of over three minutes. Whilst UAE's Nils Politt drove away on the front in the peloton, Red Bull's sole rookie Flanders participant, Jarrad Drizners, was unfortunate enough to become the first rider of the race to abandon due to a crash.

A level crossing incident, with half the bunch blocked when the barriers unexpectedly came down, allowed the 13 breakaways - who were not stopped, in accordance with regulations - to push up their lead to 5:30. UAE notably stepped up the pace in response to their increased advantage as the 200 kilometres-to-go mark ticked by, with Mikkel Bjerg responsible for much of the spadework.

Come the first ascent of three of the Oude Kwaremont, the first of the 13 leaders across the top of one of Flanders' most emblematic ascents was Jambaljamts Sainbayar, the first ever Mongolian rider to race the Ronde. However, plenty of riders had said pre-race that they were not prepared to wait for the 'Big Four' to make a move, and with 120 kilometres, there were some notable attempts to test the water by riders as powerful as Chrisophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ). As a result, as the Molenberg, the seventh of 16 climbs in this year's Flanders, loomed into sight, the gap for the 13 breakaways was now down to just over three minutes.

Suddenly, an explosive acceleration by Nils Politt on the approach to the main bunch saw Wout van Aert almost caught off guard.

Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates) then added the pressure on the climb itself and blew the peloton apart completely, abruptly reducing the main body of the race from 90 or 100 riders to an elite lead group of chasers of 17. In an instant, the narrative of Flanders 2026 changed completely as each of the key favourites, barring Mads Pedersen, had at least one support rider for company ahead, and the big names all began investing heavily in the much smaller chase move behind the breakaway of the day.

Red Bull had Mick van Dijke and Gianni Vermeersch with Evenepoel, Pogačar was with teammate Florian Vermeersch, Van Der Poel with Michael Gogl, not to mention Dillier ahead, and Wout van Aert had Christophe Laporte. Other interesting options included Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious), Jasper Stuyven (Soudal-QuickStep), Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers and a very strong-looking teammate, Sam Watson, not to mention Matteo Trentin (Tudor). EF tried their utmost to chase and get back on terms in the second peloton, but as the gap yawned inexorably to 90 seconds, it was clear the race was now in the hands of the Pogačar group and – perhaps – some of the strongest riders in the break out front.

Torrential downpours suddenly hit the race from time to time, but that didn't stop the 17-strong chase group squeezing hard, with Pogačar leading on the Valkenberg, then teammate Florian Vermeersch pushing on immediately afterwards. At 78 kilometres to go, the 17 reached the 11 ahead, forming a group of 28. It was intriguing to see how keen Evenepoel was to take a turn on the front, given his inexperience in this larger group, but that was perhaps also a sign of his ambition on such hallowed racing terrain for Belgian fans.

Then the second ascent of the Kwaremont, 57 kilometres out, saw Pogačar test the water in person, quickly followed by Van Aert, with Mads Pedersen giving his all to chase. Van der Poel was able to get across, albeit with some difficulties, whilst Evenepoel finally made it on, too. However, a second, slighter acceleration by Pogačar saw towards the top caused another key shift in the power balance as Van Aert, having been right on the Slovenian's wheel when it mattered, was gapped on the smoother tarmacked ascent that followed. As it was, then, just Evenepoel and Van der Poel were present with Pogačar as the race moved into the final 50 kilometres.

Pogačar then gave it another blast on the Paterberg, instantly removing Evenepoel from the equation and leaving it to just Van der Poel and the Slovenian ahead. Van Aert was swept up by Mads Pedersen, behind, but Evenepoel grimly insisted on pursuing, his time trialling skills proving invaluable under these circumstances of a lone chase. However, come the foot of the Koppenberg, his disadvantage was still three seconds and by the top, as Pogačar drove on relentlessly, shadowed by Van der Poel, the fatigue proved too much for the Belgian, and the gap had tripled to 20 seconds.

Was he gone for good? Not quite, as Evenepoel came within sight of the two leaders and Pogačar, looking back, upped the pace a little more on a timely set of cobbles. But when Van Der Poel added his support to Pogačar to ensure the race remained a two-person affair, and Evenepoel's shoulders sagged from time to time, the effort to regain contact was obviously beginning to prove too much.

On the longer straightaways and broader roads, Pogačar could see the riders ahead, only for the duo ahead to simply apply enough pressure to be sure he was kept behind. Van Aert and Pedersen were a further 50 seconds behind, so it was certain that he'd get a podium position on his debut. However, getting a real chance to get on terms with Van der Poel and Pogačar was really too big an ask.

Staying in contention for victory also proved a very big ask for Van der Poel on the Oude Kwaremont too, as on the third and definitive ascent, Pogačar opened up a huge gap; even before they hit the cobbles, the Slovenian was gone. A sudden drive to the front allowed him to open up a six-second gap at the top, but if it was not quite the same devastating move as a year before, the way Van der Poel was visibly struggling at the top made it evident which way the race was moving.

The last climb of the race, the much easier Paterberg, did nothing but confirm the previous status quo. Pogačar's advantage steadily yawned up to 40 seconds, his jaw clenched slightly with the efforts, but with no real sign of weakening. On the long, flat run-in towards Oudenaarde, Van der Poel remained resolutely on track for second, but in the last 20 kilometres, what looked like a harder-fought battle had clearly developed into the typical Pogačar rout. His right arm already began punching in victory with a kilometre left, at 278.2 kilometres, 2026, might have been the longest Flanders since 1988, but it made absolutely no difference: Pogačar continues to rule supreme.

There will be a chance of a revenge match for Van der Poel in Paris-Roubaix, finally 34 seconds down in Flanders, and last year, the paves of France were where Pogačar came unstuck as he crashed later on. But if Milan-San Remo was one of the Slovenian's hardest fought victories, Flanders was much easier in comparison, and he will head into the Hell of the North with morale at an all-time high. For now, cycling's spring belongs once again to Pogačar.

Tour of Flanders 2026 Full Results