Tour of Flanders 2022 overview

The 2022 Tour of Flanders podium (l-r): Dylan van Baarle, Mathieu van der Poel and Valentin Madouas — Final 2022 podium has winner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) on podium beside second-placed Dylan van Baarle (Ineos Grenadiers) and third-placed Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) (Image credit: Getty Images)

Mathieu van der Poel tops Van Baarle in a Tour of Flanders thriller

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) won a thrilling Tour of Flanders in the closing metres as a two-rider battle turned into a four-rider sprint in Oudenaarde.

The Dutchman, who was runner-up last year, fought under the 1km kite with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), but allowed chasers Dylan van Baarle (Ineos Grenadiers) and Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) to make the catch in the final hundred metres. Van Baarle was able to grab second place with Madouas dashing ahead of Pogačar for third. Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) was the first chaser home at two seconds back.

It was a small group at the front of the race with 15km to go on the Oude Kwaremont - Van der Poel, Van Baarle, Madouas, Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates). It was here Pogačar attacked, yet again, and the power only matched by Van der Poel. The two jetted away and it looked as if the duo would battle to the line, but Pogačar played cat and mouse and a 30-second gap on chasers fizzled out, as well as the Slovenian's final push to the podium.

The crowds were back at the race after a two-year absence, lining the 272km course as the official race start in Antwerp’s Grote Markt took place on a sunny but cold day. A group of nine escapees built a maximum advantage of more than four minutes: Stan Dewulf (AG2R-Citroën), Sebastien Grignard (Lotto Soudal), Lindsay De Vylder (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Mathijs Paasschens (Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces-WB), Manuele Boaro (Astana Qazaqstan), Luca Mozzato (B&B Hotels-KTM), Tom Bohli (Cofidis) and Max Kanter (Movistar).

Over the first ascent of the Oude Kwaremont – the first of the day’s 18 hellingen – with 140km remaining and the advantage of the breakaway began to disappear, and counter-attacks began to shatter the peloton. The complexion of the entire race changed on the first climb of the Oude Kwaremont, as Pogačar surged violently from the peloton and over two kilometres closed the gap to the chasers and passed the early breakaway riders.

Then on the 22 per cent slopes of the Koppenberg, he attacked again, flying away with only Van der Poel and Madouas joining the move, and then later with Wright and Van Baarle for the final push.

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Results - top 5
Pos.	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix	6:18:30
2	Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers
3	Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
4	Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
5	Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ	0:00:02

Tour of Flanders 2022 news and features

Tour of Flanders history

Call it the Tour of Flanders, the Ronde van Vlaanderen or 'De Ronde' for short, Tour des Flandres, Giro delle Fiandre, or Flandern Rundfahrt, the Vlaanderens Mooiste is the pinnacle of one-day racing in Belgium. The race had its first edition in 1913, the brainchild of Sportwereld's Léon van den Haute to reinvigorate cycling in Belgium and provide the Flemish people with an event entirely within their region.

The Tour of Flanders was interrupted by World War I but when it returned, its popularity exploded with the distance and terrible roads combining to create a punishing and triumphant challenge.

In the 1970s the finish was moved to Meerbeke and the finale incorporated the Muur van Geraardsbergen, or Kapelmuur after the small chapel at its summit, and later added the ultra-steep, cobbled Koppenberg as a key feature on the parcours.

The formula was changed in 2012 to create a more spectator-friendly circuit around a finish in Oudenaarde that puts the crux moments on the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg cobbled climbs.

In 2020, the race was postponed to October because of the COVID-19 pandemic and shortened to 243km. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) triumphed after beating his eternal rival Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) to the line.

The race returned to April in 2021 and was 254.3km in length with Danish champion Kasper Asgreen out-sprinting van der Poel in a thrilling final to win the 2021 Tour of Flanders.