Tadej Pogacar: I need to finish alone to win the Tour of Flanders

Tadej Pogacar, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel racing at E3 Saxo Bank Classic
Tadej Pogacar, Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel racing at E3 Saxo Bank Classic (Image credit: Getty Images)

On the road at the E3 Saxo Bank Classic and then in newsprint ever since, Tadej Pogačar has spent the week leading up to the Tour of Flanders in the company of Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert. If he is to beat them to the Ronde on Sunday, however, the Slovenian knows that he will finally have to lose them somewhere on the road to Oudenaarde.

There is precious little to separate the Big Three as the big day arrives, but in the event of a deadlock, both Van der Poel and Van Aert would probably back themselves in a sprint. Although Pogačar packs a decent turn of speed himself, especially in an endurance race like this – witness his efforts at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 – his likeliest road to victory here is a solitary one. 

Barry Ryan
Head of Features

Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.