Was the Tour of Flanders Tadej Pogačar's toughest Monument win yet? Teammates' crashes and unshakeable competitors put world champion to the test

Slovenian Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates celebrates on the podium after winning the men's race of the 'Ronde van Vlaanderen/ Tour des Flandres/ Tour of Flanders' one day cycling race, 268,9km from Brugge to Oudenaarde, Sunday 06 April 2025. BELGA PHOTO JASPER JACOBS (Photo by JASPER JACOBS / BELGA MAG / Belga via AFP)
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) celebrates his Tour of Flanders victory (Image credit: Getty Images)

In 2024, Tadej Pogačar seemed to win one-day races at will. At Strade Bianche, he said he'd attack 82km from the finish, and he did, and he won. At the World Championships, he was away alone for 100km. At Il Lombardia, it was a comparatively modest 48km, but a dominant solo win all the same. Nothing seemed to stand in his way.

This year, however, that ability to just ride away hasn't seemed to come quite so easily to the Slovenian. At Strade Bianche, he of course won, but he did it bruised and bloodied, after crashing uncharacteristically. Milan-San Remo saw him try, try and fail to shake Mathieu van der Poel, and ultimately cede victory to the Dutchman.

Assistant Features Editor

Matilda is an NCTJ-qualified journalist based in the UK who joined Cyclingnews in March 2025. Prior to that, she worked as the Racing News Editor at GCN, and extensively as a freelancer contributing to Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Velo, Rouleur, Escape Collective, Red Bull and more. She has reported from many of the biggest events on the calendar, including the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France Femmes, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. She has particular experience and expertise in women's cycling, and women's sport in general. She is a graduate of modern languages and sports journalism.

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