Sean Kelly's Classics column: Tadej Pogačar turns Tour of Flanders into a torture-fest as Remco Evenepoel silences critics

The Tour of Flanders is a tough race at the best of times, but yesterday's edition was frankly brutal. What a day of racing we had at De Ronde.

I was commentating on the men's race, and even early on, the difficulty caused by the pace of UAE Team Emirates-XRG was clear to see. After that big break had got away down the road and built up a healthy advantage, Mikkel Bjerg and Nils Politt were set to work.

The way they were riding, you could see riders clinging to the back of the bunch saying 'My God, what's this about?' and then we had big downpours of showers, too. Even when the peloton was momentarily split in two by a level-crossing and the break were able to eke out an extra two minutes, it didn't hamper their efforts.

If you weren't feeling good, this wasn't a race for you. If it was your first Tour of Flanders, you were probably saying 'What the f*** is this all about?' because in the first 50 kilometres you could see the riders feeling it already and the bunch lined out.

Yep, it was a horrible, torture-fest of a race for some, but a great race for others who thrive on that difficulty. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) wanted it to be hard all day, and he ensured that was the case in the final stages.

Pogačar's power proved too much

I suspect a lot of riders were thinking that the race would only ignite when the Oude Kwaremont was hit for a second time, but my God, the men's race came to life before we even hit the Molenberg. There was a side wind to contend with too, so UAE ramped the pace up to the limit there, putting rivals into the gutter before the climb and that certainly caught a few people out, Wout van Aert included.

The Belgian managed to get back into a good position, but there were others who missed the train for good, and they didn't see the front of the race again.

Naturally, Pogačar was riding a lot, but I think Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) contributed too much for my liking, considering that he had teammates like Gianni Vermeersch and the Van Dijke brothers still within the group.

It was always going to be a race that came down to who could push that little bit more than others in the key moments, and of course, Pogačar lived up to the billing on the second ascent of the Kwaremont, as he forced a selection. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) was momentarily out of position when the move was made, and perhaps he was playing cute there, not having his nose in the wind, but he did have to make an effort to move up. While he did it very well, every little effort can add up, come the decisive moments.

When the five-rider group of Pogačar, Van der Poel, Evenepoel, Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) went clear, it was one of those iconic Classics moments, but that high pace meant it didn't last long.

Van der Poel and Evenepoel were doing their fair share of the work until the Belgian was dropped. Van der Poel still came through afterwards, but he wasn't pushing on in the same way. He was thinking 'Okay, I have to just conserve here. conserve energy and leave Pogačar to do the brunt of the work.'

The Dutchman knew what was coming, and when Evenepoel tried to come back, and got within 100m at one point, Pogačar just turned up the gas again, which is telling of the really good form he is in.

It was the same case on the final time up the Kwaremont. On TV, Pogačar's attacks don't look that difficult, but when you're out there and think about the way the entire race was ridden, my God. Everybody was on the limit in that final, even with 50km to go for some, but Tadej, he had a lot more in the tank than anyone else.

Pogačar's victory means that he could feasibly be the first rider to hold all five Monument titles at the same time if fortune favours him next weekend at Paris-Roubaix. That's a big 'if' given the mechanicals and type of race that Roubaix is. Nonetheless, if someone had said to me four or five years ago that a rider would be able to win all five Monuments within 12 months, I'd say you're totally crazy.

It's very likely that we'll see a Pogačar-Van der Poel battle once again, especially with how the Slovenian fared in his Roubaix debut last year, but the lack of climbs will swing the odds away from Pogačar and towards the larger, more powerful riders like Van Aert, Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) and Van der Poel.

Evenepoel puts doubts to bed on debut

I was actually a bit afraid for Evenepoel coming into Sunday's race, should he get into difficulty fighting for position ahead of the key points of the route, but the Olympic champion impressed me on his Flanders debut.

Even if he'd announced his debut six months earlier, there would be huge pressure on him given his status in Flemish cycling, but to do it like he did, keeping it secret until days before the race, there was always going to be more pressure. If he didn't perform yesterday, the Belgian press would knock him for the way he played it, but fortunately, he put those thoughts to bed.

And okay, he rode a bit too much for my liking, but that's because he wanted the race to be difficult and a thinner field, where fighting for position was less important. It turned into the perfect scenario for him, but ultimately, he paid for those earlier efforts where he tried to force the pace.

The ride he did afterwards, though, when he was alone, and almost regaining contact, was impressive. He clearly had a lot to give, but maybe just lacked that experience.

Will he be back next year? That will be interesting to see. After his performance today, it's certainly possible for him to win this race, and it could well change how he looks at the calendar, especially with riders like Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) also coming through. Either way, he will have gained a lot of confidence from the way he performed yesterday.

Vollering wins battle of position and power

In a similar vein to Pogačar, when Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) is on good form, and her teammates, notably Franzi Koch who was up there right until the decisive point, are able to put the rest of the bunch in difficulty and inflict damage, it can almost make the victory look effortless.

Yet Vollering was in a dominant mood and when she attacked, chasing her down was always going to be very difficult for Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike), Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-ProTime) and Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech).

Across the two races, there weren't many crashes, but those that did occur, were quite influential, especially for the women's field. Both Marlen Reusser (Movistar) and Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) were forced out of the race before the action started after a nasty crash, so that certainly made Vollering's task slightly easier.

Then, when it came to the Kwaremont, she pushed her rivals into the red, and that makes it incredibly hard to come back from. Only 15 or so male riders tackled the final ascent of the Kwaremont faster than Vollering, which shows just how powerful she is when she's on her day and delivered into the position where she needs to be.

For the chase groups behind, even when they started to work together, Vollering was always in control, right up to the line.

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