Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar won the Tour of Flanders on Sunday for the second year in a row and the third time in total, joining the list of riders who have won three times – a record – on the second Monument of the season.
Published on: 04/05/2026 - 5:20 p.m. Modified on: 04/05/2026 - 6:24 p.m.
Untouchable, Tadej Pogacar won his third Tour of Flanders on Sunday April 5, a record equaled, by winning alone ahead of Mathieu van der Poel and Remco Evenepoel after a formidable fight in the cobbled mountains.
With this twelfth victory in a Monument, the Slovenian overtakes Roger De Vlaeminck and moves into second place alone in the all-time rankings, behind Eddy Merckx (19).
Already winner of the Milan-Sanremo two weeks ago, the double world champion also remains in the running to achieve the Grand Slam consisting of winning the five Monuments in the same season – a feat never before achieved –, before the next meeting next Sunday at Paris-Roubaix.
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Tadej Pogacar won in front of the other three "fantastics", with 40 seconds ahead of Mathieu van der Poel, who came to fall into his arms at the finish, while Remco Evenepoel finished 1 min 24 sec, ahead of Wout van Aert (2:11).
Accelerating up all the mountains, Pogacar wrung out his rivals one by one to take off alone, as during his successes in 2023 and 2025, in the third and final ascent of Old Kwaremont, 18 km from the finish.
Read also Vélo d’or 2025: coronation of Slovenian Pogacar and Frenchwoman Ferrand-Prévot
Last to break, Van der Poel managed to limit the damage to fall to 15 seconds at the top of Paterberg, the last difficulty of the day. But he definitely gave up in the last 13 flat kilometers towards Oudenaarde, failing in his quest for a fourth victory in the Ronde.
Behind, Evenepoel, for his first participation, took a good third place by offering formidable resistance behind the leading duo, while he was all alone during the last 50 kilometers.
In a race where the favorites arrived one by one, Wout van Aert, long accompanied by Mads Pedersen, finished fourth, as in 2023 and 2025, after letting go of the Dane on the last ascent of Old Kwaremont.
The Belgian continues to chase a victory that he has dreamed of since his childhood in the Flandrian Monument.
Tadej Pogacar now has three successes, equaling the record he shares with Mathieu van der Poel, Achille Buysse, Fiorenzo Magni, Eric Leman, Johan Museeuw, Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara.
Enough to approach the Hell of the North with full confidence next Sunday, where he will aim for a first victory in the last Monument which is still missing from his record.
On the women's side, it was the Dutchwoman Demi Vollering who won the race by winning with 42 seconds ahead of the Frenchwoman Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, who beat the Dutchwoman Puck Pieterse in the sprint for second place.
Victorious in 2025, the Belgian Lotte Kopecky took 4th place more than a minute behind.
Vollering isolated herself in the lead in the ascent of Old Kwaremont 18 kilometers from the line to sign her fifth success of the season.
After her victories at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, on the Strade Bianche, La Flèche wallonne and the Amstel, the Dutchwoman won for the first time on the Ronde, a little over a month after a success on the Het Nieuwsblad circuit.
With AFP
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