Spring Classics

Van der Poel Third at Flanders as Pogacar Soloes Clear — "Roubaix Is Now My Only Obsession"

CYCLING LOOKOUT • 5 APRIL 2026

Mathieu van der Poel came up short in his bid for a record-equalling fourth Tour of Flanders title on Sunday, finishing third in Oudenaarde behind a rampant Tadej Pogacar and runner-up Mads Pedersen. The Alpecin-Deceuninck leader was the only rider briefly able to follow Pogacar when the world champion lit the fuse on the Koppenberg, but he cracked on the decisive third ascent of the Oude Kwaremont and had to settle for bronze after losing the sprint for second to Pedersen by half a bike length.

It is the first time in four years that Van der Poel has left De Ronde without the cobblestone trophy, and his frustration was written across his face at the finish. "Tadej is on another planet today — we all saw it," he said in his flash interview. "I tried to hold him on the Kwaremont and for a moment I thought I could. Then the legs were gone. Second place would at least have been something to take home. Losing that sprint too is hard to swallow." Pedersen, stronger in the finishing straight after a more conservative ride, powered past him with 50 metres to go.

The Dutchman was quick to pivot the conversation to next Sunday and the one race that now dominates his spring. "Honestly, from now until next Sunday Paris-Roubaix is my only obsession," he said. "I have three cobblestones in my living room already. I want a fourth. That is the number that matters now. Flanders is done — Roubaix is everything." Victory on April 12 would see him join Roger De Vlaeminck and Tom Boonen as the only riders with four wins at the Hell of the North.

Van der Poel has been the dominant force at Roubaix for three straight editions, beating Pogacar into second place on the Slovenian's 2025 debut after the world champion misjudged a turn with 40km to go. That defeat lit a fire under Pogacar, who has spent months reconning the Trouée d'Arenberg, the Mons-en-Pévèle sector and the Carrefour de l'Arbre in an unusually open bid for the one Monument still missing from his collection. After Sunday's Flanders masterclass, Pogacar arrives in northern France as co-favourite at worst.

Alpecin-Deceuninck team manager Christoph Roodhooft admitted the Flanders defeat stings but insisted the team's Roubaix plan is unchanged. "Mathieu was strong today. Pogacar was simply better, and Mads had a phenomenal sprint. It happens. Roubaix is a different animal — the way the race unfolds, the pure power, the crashes, the punctures. Mathieu has won it three times in a row for a reason. We go to Compiègne with full confidence." The Belgian squad is expected to field the same six domestiques who delivered Van der Poel to his 2025 victory, led by Jasper Philipsen and Gianni Vermeersch.

The wider significance of Sunday's result is that Van der Poel is no longer the undisputed king of the cobbles. Pogacar has now won two Flanders titles in a row, Pedersen has become a genuine Roubaix favourite after consecutive top-three finishes in Oudenaarde, and Van Aert — fourth on Sunday — has publicly staked his season on April 12. The Van der Poel monopoly is over, which may be precisely the provocation the three-time champion needs heading into the race he regards as his true spiritual home.

For Van der Poel, the numbers tell their own story. Three consecutive Paris-Roubaix victories. A world road title in 2023. Three Tour of Flanders wins. A Milan-San Remo and three Monuments in a single year. At 31, and with a cyclocross career that routinely takes him into October, windows to add cobblestones to the mantelpiece are finite. The Dutchman has spent all winter training with one Sunday circled in red, and on Easter night in Oudenaarde he made it clear nothing that happened earlier in the day changes that focus. "Next Sunday," he said, almost to himself. "Next Sunday is all that matters now."

Van der Poel Third at Flanders as Pogacar Soloes Clear — "Roubaix Is Now My Only Obsession"

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