Turin, 5 April (LaPresse) – Tadej Pogacar has won the Tour of Flanders for the third time in his career. The Slovenian sensation triumphed in a solo breakaway ahead of Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who was dropped on the Old Kwaremont 17 km from the finish; completing the podium was Belgian Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora hansgrohe), who was making his debut at the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Pogacar thus becomes the first rider in history since Eddie Merckx to win both Sanremo and Flanders in the same season. The ‘Cannibal’ achieved this feat in 1969 and 1975. The UAE Team Emirates rider set the pace some 57 km from the finish: initially, only Van der Poel, Evenepoel, Wout Van Aert (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) remained with him. The latter two soon lost contact, whilst the Belgian fought a battle of attrition for several kilometres before eventually giving up after coming within a handful of seconds of rejoining the leaders. For Pogacar, this marks his fourth consecutive victory in a ‘Monument’ race.
© Copyright LaPresse
