Tadej Pogacar topples Mathieu van der Poel in Tour of Flanders thriller, Wout van Aert fourth

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) wrote the next captivating chapter in his illustrious career with a remarkable solo victory in the fastest Tour of Flanders ever raced. After a series of early skirmishes, the Slovenian put in his decisive attack on the second dual ascent of the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg to drop rival Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and deny the Dutchman a third win in four years.

Van der Poel, whose earlier attack on the Kruisberg ended the chances of big rival Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), crossed the line 16 seconds adrift for second place. Pogacar, meanwhile, follows in the footsteps of Frenchman Louison Bobet and the Belgian Eddy Merckx to become only the third rider in history to win both the Tour de France and the Tour of Flanders.

Ad Denmark’s Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) held off a late surge from Belgium’s Van Aert to secure the final spot on the podium after a chase group came home in Oudenaarde over a minute behind. The American Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) continued his stellar form to complete the top five ahead of Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ), the 2021 champion Kasper Asgreen (Soudal Quick-Step), Fred Wright (Bahrain-Victorious) and Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar).

Ronde van VlaanderenPogacar eyes solo attack in bid to edge Van Aert and Van der Poel at Tour of FlandersYESTERDAY AT 19:16 The 107th edition was also the fastest with Pogacar coming home to complete the 273.4km course in an whopping average speed of 44.1kmph. Played out in cold and breezy conditions, the race offered moments of real edge-of-the-seat excitement but was marred by a series of nasty crashes which caused the withdrawals of a raft of big name riders including Biniam Girmay