Two races, two solo winners, one epic Sunday.
“Flanders Best” lived up to its reputation with two stunning edition of the Tour of Flanders.
The men’s and women’s races unfolding in similar chaos. Crashes and mishaps took out some pre-race favorites in both races. Peter Sagan and Annemiek van Vleuten, two legends retiring at the end of this season, saw their chances for one final hurrah KO’d by incidents.
Both races saw dominant teams dictate the conversations, but only SD Worx could deliver on pre-race expectations, finishing 1-2 after Lotte Kopecky shredded the field with a solo attack. In the men’s race, the wheels came off Jumbo-Visma a bit when Wout van Aert didn’t have the legs to follow the winning moves, and his face-saving sprint for the podium was bettered by Mads Pedersen (Trek Segafredo).
The Flandrien monument saw worthy winners to equal the race’s vaulted reputation, with Kopecky confirming her growing status as the queen of the classics with unmatched strength on the Oude Kwaremont-Paterberg double.
Tadej Pogačar attacked relentlessly in the closing hour to distance his two rivals in the “Three Kings” battle. The Slovenian knew his best and perhaps only chance to win was to arrive alone in Oudenaarde. Searing attacks in the second passage up the Oude Kwaremont-Paterberg double finished off Van Aert and then gapped Mathieu van der Poel.
There can only be one king.
Pogačar becomes just the third Tour de France winner to also win the Tour of Flanders, and the first since Eddy Merckx. Just as soon as he crossed the finish line, chatter of a “monument sweep” started to take hold. With wins already in three of the five, only Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix remain.
Both races saw fresh faces step into the fray. Neilson Powless and Matteo Jorgenson both punched into the top-10 in their respective Flanders debuts, while Juliette Labous (Team DSM) and Shirin van Anrooij (Trek – Segafredo) also rode into the top-10 on Sunday.
In cycling’s monuments, there are no lucky winners. The race, the distance, weather, and level of the peloton see only the very best rise to the top. Sunday proved that again.
There’s no race like the Tour of Flanders.
The fans, the history, and the cobbled climbs make it unique in cycling culture.
On Sunday, everyone celebrated one-day racing at its best. There’s no holding back to save something for tomorrow’s stage. It’s all or nothing, and on Sunday, the peloton gave everything.
And just when you think it can’t get any better, Paris-Roubaix awaits next weekend.
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