A holy land of cycling, Flanders has witnessed many epic feats across decades of competition, but few match the accomplishments of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG), winner of the Ronde van Vlaanderen on Sunday. Dominant on all sorts of terrains, the Slovenian star powered away from his rivals on the Oude Kwaremont and flew to victory in Oudenaarde, succeeding Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
Also a winner of the Ronde in 2020, the Dutchman still has the edge on Pogačar in the Flemish Monument, with three victories to two… But the Slovenian’s record extends far beyond the realm of Flanders to put him at the very pinnacle of cycling history. His successes, from the highest summits of Grand Tours to the lower cobbles of the North already set him apart. And legend awaits him this weekend as he takes on Paris-Roubaix for the first time.
Can the Slovenian Cannibal create a new masterpiece with his first attempt? Sonny Colbrelli pulled off this very special feat in 2021, winning a muddy Paris-Roubaix at his first participation. But there’s much more at stake in Pogačar’s case, conjuring legends such as Greg LeMond, Eddy Merckx or Louison Bobet as he ventures on a terrain usually deemed as unsuited for Grand Tour winners.
“I cannot be prouder of how we raced today”
It’s been a long time now that Pogačar has demonstrated his supreme talent makes him a ruler in one-day races as much as three-week events. His podium at La Vuelta Ciclista a España 2019, with three stage wins, just before turning 21 years old, drew lots of attention as he brilliantly capped off his first professional season, also marked by the overall victory in the Amgen Tour of California… and a top-20 finish in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the first Monument he ever participated in.
Six springs later, Pogačar has won 93 professional road races, including four Grand Tours and eight Monuments. Milano-Sanremo still resists him… And the Primavera, where he came 3rd again this year, was his last race prior to the Ronde van Vlaanderen.
In between, his Slovenian rival Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) had got the better of Juan Ayuso Pesquera (UAE Team Emirates XRG) in the Volta Cyclista a Catalunya; Juan Sebastian Molano Benavides (UAE Team Emirates- ) sprinted to victory in the Classic Brugge-De Panne; Mathieu Van der Poel ruled the E3 Saxo Classic; Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) took his third Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields; and Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) found the opening in Dwars door Vlaanderen-A travers la Flandre.
But when Pogačar returned to action on the Flemish hills, there was no resisting him. “The goal was to win but in the end it’s hard to realise it”, the UCI World Champion explained. “We did it and I cannot be prouder of the team and how we raced today even though we had some bad luck. In the end, all was good and I’m just so happy to win this race in this jersey.”
Victory in Roubaix would be an unprecedented feat
Pogačar now takes his rainbow jersey to Paris-Roubaix, along with his credentials as Grand Tour winner. He is the first defending Tour de France winner to participate in the Hell of the North since Greg LeMond in 1991. Putting the Tour and Roubaix on his list of victories would be a first since Bernard Hinault ruled the cobbles in 1981. As for a victory in Roubaix as the defending Tour de France winner, only Fausto Coppi (in 1950), Louison Bobet (in 1956) and Eddy Merckx (in 1973) have achieved that feat.
Adding the Ronde van Vlaanderen into the equation, Pogačar could be the twelfth rider to win both cobbled Monuments back-to-back, Van der Poel being the latest in a list that, so far, includes no winner of the Tour de France! Bobet and Merckx did rule the Tour, the Ronde and Roubaix, but they couldn’t do it consecutively. Also, Pogačar would become the defending champion in four of the five Monuments (with Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia), another unprecedented feat.
The road to victory in Roubaix remains uncertain but whatever the outcome of Sunday’s edition, Pogačar will remain head and shoulders above the rest of the competition in the UCI World Ranking, which sees him dominate both the Stage Race and the One Day Race Rankings. And he is ready to turn to the hillier Classics that will mark the second half of April in the UCI WorldTour, with the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.