Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) won the 2026 Tour of Flanders on Sunday, attacking solo on the Oude Kwaremont to beat Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) by 34 seconds. Once again the race was resolved through repeated climbing pressure that turned the race into a series of three-minute power tests on the steep Belgian ramps.
UAE teammate Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) hit the front on the Molenberg with over 100km remaining, helping force a selection that drew clear an elite front group. That move served two purposes: it reduced the number of riders capable of influencing the finale, and it ensured the race stayed hard on every subsequent climb. Pogačar was often setting the pace on the bergs, clearly aiming to fatigue his rivals as much as possible.
This can be seen in the split times from the Oude Kwaremont. On the final passage Pogačar and Van der Poel were 15 to 20 seconds slower than on the penultimate ascent. The race was doing its damage well before the decisive attack.
Oude Kwaremont Split Times
Rider | Passage 2 | Passage 3 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mathieu van der Poel | |||
| Tadej Pogačar |
What made the front group's behaviour unusual was how orderly it remained. Rather than exploding into constant attacks that might have introduced chaos, the leading riders cooperated at a high tempo. "I was happy that we kind of cooperated," Pogačar said in the televised flash interview after the race. That cooperation reduced randomness and preserved the race for his preferred launch point.
Nobody forced him into erratic chases or panic accelerations. Instead, the group rode into exactly the scenario he wanted: hard enough to soften everyone, structured enough that he could save his final punch for the last Kwaremont.
Is Flanders becoming a climber's Monument?
The podium tells its own story. Pogačar first, Van der Poel second, Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) third. It now feels like a rider needs to have grand tour podium climbing levels if they want to be in contention for the win.
Evenepoel, a rider whose Flandrian pedigree barely existed two years ago finished ahead of Van Aert and Pedersen, two of the most decorated cobbled classics specialists of this generation. If his presence on the Tour of Flanders podium becomes a pattern rather than an outlier, it will confirm what this edition suggested: that the race increasingly rewards repeatable watts-per-kilo climbing power over the kind of brute cobbled force that once defined it, and which still reigns supreme at Paris-Roubaix.
That said, Van der Poel was still second at 34 seconds, which is evidence against any absolute rebrand. Flanders has not stopped being a cobbled Monument. The route still demands technical skill, crash survival and the resilience to race hard for six hours over rough roads.
If future editions keep being decided by repeated uphill power on the Oude Kwaremont, the question of what kind of rider the Tour of Flanders truly favours may need a different answer than the one Flanders has given for most of its history.
Tour of Flanders 2026 Results
Apr 5
| Pos | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Tadej Pogačar | UADUAE Team Emirates-XRG | 6:20:07 |
| 🥈 | Mathieu van der Poel | APTAlpecin-Premier Tech | +0:34 |
| 🥉 | Remco Evenepoel | RBHRed Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe | +1:11 |
| 4 | Wout van Aert | VISVisma | Lease a Bike | +2:04 |
| 5 | Mads Pedersen | LTKLidl-Trek | +2:48 |
| 6 | Jasper Stuyven | SOQSoudal-Quickstep | +4:28 |
| 7 | Florian Vermeersch | UADUAE Team Emirates-XRG | +4:28 |
| 8 | Matej Mohorič | TBVBahrain Victorious | +4:30 |
| 9 | Christophe Laporte | VISVisma | Lease a Bike | +5:22 |
| 10 | Gianni Vermeersch | RBHRed Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe | +5:22 |
Cover image credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com
