Flanders Bike Race: Pogacar’s third win turns a brutal day into a statement of control
The flanders bike race began with a packed road, hard cobbles, and the kind of pressure that tends to expose every weakness. By the finish, Tadej Pogacar had turned that strain into another landmark, winning a record-equalling third Tour of Flanders after shaking off Mathieu van der Poel with 18km left to ride.
How did the race tilt in Pogacar’s favor?
The defining moment came on the second of three climbs up the Oude Kwaremont, when Pogacar accelerated and dropped all but Van der Poel and Remco Evenepoel with 57km still to race. Evenepoel was then left behind on the Paterberg, and the lead pair stayed together for nearly 40km before Pogacar struck again on the final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont.
That final push broke Van der Poel’s resistance. Pogacar crested the climb with a small gap, then kept extending it to the line. The winning move was not a sudden surprise, but the end of a race in which he repeatedly forced the strongest riders to respond until they could no longer match him.
Why does this result matter beyond one Sunday in Flanders?
This flanders bike race was more than another victory on a crowded spring calendar. It gave Pogacar his second Monument win of the season after Milan-San Remo and lifted him to 12 Monument victories overall, moving him clear into second on the all-time list behind Eddy Merckx, who has 19.
The wider picture is simple: Pogacar has raced three times this year and won all three. If he wins Paris-Roubaix next weekend, he will join only three other men — Merckx, Rik van Looy and Roger De Vlaeminck — in winning all five Monuments. For now, the race reinforced a pattern that is becoming difficult for his rivals to interrupt.
Who else shaped the podium and the mood around the finish?
Remco Evenepoel finished third after more than six hours and 278km of racing through punchy climbs and cobbled sections, with Wout van Aert fourth. Van der Poel, who was aiming for a record fourth Tour of Flanders victory, could not close the gap once Pogacar moved clear.
Pogacar described the day as “really crazy” and “super hard, ” adding that he does not race often, so when he does, there is pressure to win. He also said everything had gone perfectly so far and that he could head to Roubaix motivated, while trying to enjoy the cobbles. That blend of control and caution helped define the finish: a rider speaking like someone aware that the hardest test may still be ahead.
What does the next week now ask of Pogacar?
The immediate focus shifts to Paris-Roubaix, where Pogacar was second on debut last year and Van der Poel won for the third year in a row. The possibility of a fifth Monument win this season is now real, but the margin for error in a race shaped by cobbles and chaos is thin.
For a rider who already has a record-equalling third Tour of Flanders, the question is no longer whether he belongs among the greats. It is whether the coming race will confirm that the flanders bike race was not just another victory, but part of a larger rise that is still unfolding on the road.
