Pogacar Chases History at Flanders: One Win From Breaking De Vlaeminck's 45-Year Monument Record
When the 110th Tour of Flanders rolls out of Bruges on Easter Sunday morning, Tadej Pogacar will start with a number hanging over him that is weightier than any cobble on the Oude Kwaremont. The UAE Team Emirates leader is currently locked on 11 career Monument victories — level with Roger De Vlaeminck on a list that has stood untouched for 45 years. One more Monument, and he stands alone.
Pogacar reached the De Vlaeminck mark with his maiden Milan-San Remo triumph in March, a win that finally unlocked La Classicissima for the 27-year-old after three near-misses. That 11th Monument tied him with a Belgian legend nicknamed "Monsieur Paris-Roubaix" for his four Hell of the North victories between 1972 and 1977. De Vlaeminck assembled his haul across an eight-year golden period in the 1970s and has held the record for active-rider Monument wins since 1980, when his career wound down. Until this spring, no modern rider had come within sight of 11.
The list of chasers underlines how remarkable Pogacar's ascent has been. Mathieu van der Poel, perhaps the finest single-day racer of his generation before Pogacar's Monument explosion, sits on seven. Wout van Aert, despite dominating spring Classics results pages for half a decade, has yet to win a single Monument. Pogacar has reached 11 in just under six years since his maiden Liege-Bastogne-Liege victory in 2021 — a rate of almost exactly two Monuments per year.
His current portfolio is staggering in its breadth. He owns two Tour of Flanders titles (2023, 2025), three consecutive Il Lombardia crowns (2021-2023), three Liege-Bastogne-Liege victories, and now Milan-San Remo. Only Paris-Roubaix remains missing from his cabinet — a gap he plans to close on April 12, when he makes his Hell of the North debut.
But first comes today. A third Tour of Flanders win on the Minderbroedersstraat in Oudenaarde would move Pogacar to 12 career Monuments, breaking a record that has stood since Jimmy Carter was in the White House. The opposition ranged against him is arguably the strongest cobbled Classics field assembled in years: Van der Poel, Van Aert, Evenepoel and Pedersen all line up on Sunday, the first time all four of cycling's "Big Four" have started the same Monument since the 2023 World Championships. Van der Poel himself is chasing a record-equalling fourth Flanders win, while Mads Pedersen arrives in the form of his life for Lidl-Trek.
Pogacar's route to 12 is unlikely to be comfortable. Flanders rewards aggressive racing, and the Slovenian's preferred long-range attacks are especially vulnerable when multiple rivals are willing to collaborate in the chase. On the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg, where the race is traditionally decided, a single moment of hesitation could see him marked out of contention. Equally, if he produces another of the Strade Bianche-style long-range efforts that have defined his spring, nobody on the start line will have an answer.
The bigger picture is what makes today's race so historically significant. At 27, Pogacar is nowhere near the end of his prime. If he continues his current rate of Monument accumulation for another three seasons, he will sail past 17 career wins — within touching distance of Eddy Merckx's all-time mark of 19. That record, unlike De Vlaeminck's, has always seemed impossibly safe. No longer. A Flanders win today would begin the process of making the impossible feel inevitable.
De Vlaeminck, asked this week by Belgian media whether he expected his share of the active-rider record to fall, was generous. "Records are made to be broken," the 78-year-old told Het Nieuwsblad. "Pogacar is a phenomenon we have never seen before. If anyone is going to pass me, I am glad it is him." The baton may be about to change hands. It depends on what happens over the next 270 kilometres.