Pogacar Wins Tour of Flanders With Devastating Solo Attack — Pedersen Outsprints Van der Poel for Second
Tadej Pogacar has won the 110th Tour of Flanders, delivering yet another masterclass in aggressive solo racing to claim his second consecutive Ronde van Vlaanderen title. The UAE Team Emirates leader attacked from distance on the Oude Kwaremont, riding clear of the strongest Classics field assembled in years to solo to victory in Oudenaarde on Easter Sunday. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) outsprinted Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) for second place, while Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) finished a gallant fourth just ahead of Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek).
The victory is Pogacar's 12th Monument win, breaking the all-time record he shared with Roger De Vlaeminck, and confirms his status as the most dominant one-day racer of his generation. It also marks back-to-back Flanders victories for the Slovenian, who now has three Monuments already in the 2026 spring campaign after his Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo triumphs earlier in March.
The race had been billed as a once-in-a-generation showdown, with Pogacar, Van der Poel, Van Aert and debutant Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) all lining up together at the same Monument for the first time since the 2023 World Championships. Evenepoel's surprise decision to ride Flanders — announced on April 1st, leading Pogacar to initially think it was a joke — had added an extra layer of intrigue to an already loaded start list.
In the end, it was Pogacar who proved untouchable. The defending champion launched his decisive attack on the Oude Kwaremont with around 40 kilometres remaining, a move that echoed his long-range solo at Strade Bianche a month earlier. Van der Poel attempted to follow but could not match the Slovenian's acceleration on the steepest gradients, and by the top of the Paterberg the gap was already significant. Behind, Evenepoel fulfilled the role his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammate Tim van Dijke had predicted, serving as an "aero bullet" in the chase group and disrupting the coordination of rivals, even if his own Flanders debut did not yield a podium finish.
With the race for first effectively over, the battle for the remaining podium places produced its own drama. Pedersen, who has built his reputation on strength and endurance in the cobbled Classics, proved the fastest in the chase group's sprint to Oudenaarde, edging Van der Poel by half a bike length. It was a notable result for the Dane, whose consistent spring form has made him a fixture in Monument finales. Van der Poel, bidding for what would have been a record-equalling fourth Flanders title, had to settle for third — his pursuit of Pogacar having cost him the legs to win the sprint.
Van Aert's fourth-place finish continues a bittersweet spring for the Belgian, who has been among the strongest riders in almost every major Classic without converting that form into victories. Just four days earlier he had been caught on the line by Filippo Ganna at Dwars door Vlaanderen after a 30-kilometre solo, and once again the final result did not reflect his enormous contribution to the race's narrative.
For Pogacar, the focus now shifts to Paris-Roubaix on April 12th, where he will look to continue his extraordinary Monument-collecting campaign. With three spring Monuments already in the bag and a Giro-Tour double bid confirmed later in the season, the 27-year-old shows no signs of slowing down in what is becoming one of the greatest individual seasons in cycling history.
Tour of Flanders 2026 — Top 5:
1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)
2. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
3. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
4. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike)
5. Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek)