Two out of five. After conquering the Sanremo, Tadej Pogacar reclaims the Tour of Flanders and keeps alive the possibility of stringing together all the major classics in a single year! Completing one of the longest Tours of Flanders ever (278.2 kilometers from Antwerp to Oudenaarde) in 6 hours and 20 minutes, the two-time World Champion of the UAE drops half a minute on Mathieu Van Der Poel (Alpecin Premier Tech) and completing the podium is Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull Bora) who contributed to a great Flemish day in his first participation. Completing the group of big names at the start for the first time all together in a monument, 4th place goes to Wout Van Aert (Visma Lease a Bike) and the cherry on top is the 5th place of Mads Pedersen (Lidl Trek) while completing the top-10 are Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step), Florian Vermeersch (today "lead domestique" of the winner), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Christophe Laporte ("lead domestique" of Van Aert) and Gianni Vermeersch (only namesake of Florian) "lead domestique" of Evenepoel alongside Tim Van Dijke who finishes just behind in eleventh position.

RACE REPORT

On terrain that was damp in places but almost never wet, in an atmosphere cooled by the wind but warmed by Belgian enthusiasm at the passages through the numerous towns, the breakaway forms at km 28, leaving Sint-Niklaas which was for years the starting point. There are 13 of them: Silvan Dillier (Alpecin Premier Tech), Kamil Gradek (Bahrain Victorious), Luke Lamperti (Education First), Connor Swift (Ineos), Luca Van Boven (Lotto Intermarchè), Dries De Pooter (Jayco AlUla), Julius Van den Berg (Picnic PostNL), Edoardo Zamperini (Cofidis), Frederik Frison (Pinarello Q36.5), Victor Vercouillie (Flanders Baloise), Hartthijs De Vries (Unibet Rockets), Eric Fagundez and Jambaljamts Sainbayar (Burgos Burpellet) with Vercouillie managing to go on a solo reconnaissance after being the first to try at the official start, while the Burgos duo brings to light the first athlete from Uruguay at the Flanders and the first athlete from Mongolia in a monument classic.

The UAE sets the pace at the top of the peloton with Bjerg, Politt and Morgado. On their wheel for a while you see Total Energies, which having been left out of the breakaway puts its men to work. Then Visma Lease a Bike, Lidl Trek and Red Bull Bora join in. The advantage of the leaders settles at three minutes, which becomes five when a level crossing slows the group and is not reduced by the first pavé sections. While a crash puts Jarrad Drizners out of action, taking away a teammate from Evenepoel, the peloton must mainly focus on regrouping after a split.

The "true Flanders" begins with the second half of the race. From wall to wall the gap narrows, the group is stretched also by a couple of solo attempts (Axel Huens of Groupama FDJ, Tomas Kopecky of Unibet Rockets) and in the breakaway Swift resumes the pace after a crash that forces him to change his right shoe assisted by the team car. At 102 km from the finish, on the fourth of sixteen walls namely the Molenberg, a key moment: while Sainbayar loses the wheels of his breakaway companions and only 12 remain to escape, a powerful acceleration by Politt and Vermeersch brings away a group of 16 pursuers. All the best are there: with Tadej Pogacar and Florian Vermeersch (UAE) there are Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin Premier Tech), Mads Pedersen (Lidl Trek), Stan Dewulf (Decathlon CMA CGM), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step), Magnus Sheffield and Sam Watson (Ineos), Matteo Trentin and Rick Pluimers (Tudor), Christophe Laporte and Wout Van Aert (Visma Lease a Bike), Remco Evenepoel, Gianni Vermeersch and Tim Van Dijke (Red Bull Bora).

Exactly after two hundred kilometers of racing, at the foot of the Berg Ten Houte the reunion occurs and progressive overtaking of the super-pursuers over the fugitives from the first hour. A situation that provides moments of cycling iconicity, such as seeing framed together in the front positions Pogacar, Van Der Poel, Van Aert and Evenepoel. It is expected that the final fireworks will explode on the Kwaremont as last year. This happens, even before the pavé section: at -57, when the asphalt road slopes slightly upward, Tadej ignites and brings the other three with him. On the crest however Van Aert loses ground and waits for Mads Pedersen, the others disperse in small groups behind.

Remaining in command are the Slovenian phenomenon, VDP and Remco, who however loses meters at -51 on the Paterberg. At -44 in the descent after the Koppenberg, meanwhile, Matteo Trentin falls into the roadside ditch together with Sam Watson and Magnus Sheffield.

Remaining thus alone, Pogacar and Van Der Poel go away arm in arm and maintain Evenepoel at a short but constant distance, giving him the illusion of catching up only to deny it to him continuously. The illusion that fades is also that of the emperor Mathieu, who at -18 on the last Kwaremont sees the UCI World Champion of the UAE go away with a "simple" acceleration towards his third Ronde, the second consecutive. Now the "triple winners" are eight: Pogacar joins the same VDP, Cancellara, Boonen, Museeuw, Leman, Buysse and our Magni, the only one to manage it in three consecutive years.

Best Italian, in a group almost six and a half minutes behind Pogacar, is 24th Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana) but the mention also goes to Zamperini, Oscar of tuttoBICI Under 23 in 2024, who as a neo-professional represented the Italian flag in the breakaway. We await updates regarding Trentin, who went down following the crash.

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FINISHING ORDER