How Pogačar won his third Tour of Flanders and why it followed a familiar script

How Pogačar won his third Tour of Flanders and why it followed a familiar script

Pogačar won his third Tour of Flanders on Sunday, but the real story was how UAE Team Emirates-XRG shaped the race into the exact kind of selective, orderly contest their leader wanted.

By Danny Bellion · · 3 min read

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

Velora
Mathieu van der PoelTadej Pogačar
Passage 22:462:48
Passage 33:083:02
Difference+22s+14s

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.

Results

Apr 5

Velora
PosRiderTeamTime
🥇
Tadej Pogačar
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG6:20:07
🥈
Mathieu van der Poel
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+34
🥉
Remco Evenepoel
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+1:11
4
Wout van Aert
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+2:04
5
Mads Pedersen
LIDL-TREK+2:48
6
Jasper Stuyven
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+4:28
7
Florian Vermeersch
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+4:28
8
Matej Mohoric
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+4:30
9
Christophe Laporte
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+5:22
10
Gianni Vermeersch
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+5:22
11
Tim van Dijke
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+5:26
12
Aime de Gendt
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+5:34
13
Oliver Naesen
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+5:39
14
Laurence Pithie
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+5:39
15
Alec Segaert
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+5:39
16
Valentin Madouas
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+5:39
17
Per Strand Hagenes
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+5:39
18
Michael Valgren
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+5:39
19
Brent van Moer
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+5:39
20
Daan Hoole
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+5:43
21
Lewis Askey
NSN CYCLING TEAM+6:24
22
Romain Gregoire
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+6:24
23
Axel Huens
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+6:42
24
Alberto Bettiol
XDS ASTANA TEAM+6:42
25
Niklas Larsen
UNIBET ROSE ROCKETS+6:44
26
Jonas Abrahamsen
UNO-X MOBILITY+6:46
27
Anthony Turgis
TOTALENERGIES+6:46
28
Kasper Asgreen
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+6:46
29
Arjen Livyns
XDS ASTANA TEAM+6:46
30
Dylan van Baarle
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+6:46
31
Søren Kragh Andersen
LIDL-TREK+6:46
32
Mike Teunissen
XDS ASTANA TEAM+6:49
33
Toon Aerts
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+6:56
34
Nils Politt
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+6:56
35
Maximilian Richard Walscheid
LIDL-TREK+6:56
36
Paul Magnier
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+6:56
37
Stefan Bissegger
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+6:56
38
Kamil Gradek
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+6:56
39
Jenno Berckmoes
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+6:56
40
Ivan Garcia Cortina
MOVISTAR TEAM+6:56
41
Biniam Girmay
NSN CYCLING TEAM+6:56
42
Stan Dewulf
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+6:56
43
Marco Haller
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+6:56
44
Mick van Dijke
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+6:56
45
Alessandro Borgo
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+6:56
46
Luca van Boven
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+6:56
47
Fabio van den Bossche
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+6:56
48
Dries de Bondt
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+7:07
49
Mathias Vacek
LIDL-TREK+7:09
50
Jan Tratnik
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+7:59
51
Artem Shmidt
INEOS GRENADIERS+8:05
52
Kim Alexander Heiduk
INEOS GRENADIERS+8:05
53
Lukáš Kubiš
UNIBET ROSE ROCKETS+8:05
54
Vito Braet
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+8:09
55
Edoardo Zamperini
COFIDIS+8:09
56
Vincent van Hemelen
TEAM FLANDERS - BALOISE+8:09
57
Rayan Boulahoite
TOTALENERGIES+8:09
58
Thibaud Gruel
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+8:09
59
Sander de Pestel
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+8:09
60
Dylan Teuns
COFIDIS+8:09
61
Luke Lamperti
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+8:09
62
Julius van den Berg
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+8:09
63
Mikkel Honoré
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+8:09
64
Cees Bol
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+8:09
65
Florian Senechal
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+8:09
66
Rick Pluimers
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+8:53
67
Matis Louvel
NSN CYCLING TEAM+9:55
68
Jon Barrenetxea Golzarri
MOVISTAR TEAM+9:56
69
Carlos Canal Blanco
MOVISTAR TEAM+9:57
70
Antonio Eric Fagundez Lima
BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH+9:57
71
Alessandro Romele
XDS ASTANA TEAM+9:57
72
Matyáš Kopecký
UNIBET ROSE ROCKETS+10:00
73
Sandy Dujardin
TOTALENERGIES+10:43
74
Alfred Brockwell Wright
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+10:43
75
Hugo Page
COFIDIS+10:43
76
Milan Lanhove
TEAM FLANDERS - BALOISE+10:43
77
Jasha Sütterlin
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+10:43
78
Rasmus Tiller
UNO-X MOBILITY+10:43
79
Alexis Renard
COFIDIS+10:43
80
Luca Mozzato
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+10:43
81
Thomas Gachignard
TOTALENERGIES+11:32
82
Henri François Renard Haquin
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+11:33
83
Davide Ballerini
XDS ASTANA TEAM+11:33
84
Rasmus Pedersen
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+11:38
85
Tom van Asbroeck
NSN CYCLING TEAM+11:38
86
Joren Bloem
UNIBET ROSE ROCKETS+11:38
87
Pepijn Reinderink
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+11:38
88
Yevgeniy Fedorov
XDS ASTANA TEAM+11:38
89
Matevž Govekar
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+11:38
90
Jonas Rutsch
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+11:38
91
Samuel Leroux
TOTALENERGIES+11:38
92
Jonathan Vervenne
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+11:38
93
Sébastien Grignard
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+11:38
94
Hartthijs de Vries
UNIBET ROSE ROCKETS+11:38
95
Mathias Norsgaard
LIDL-TREK+11:38
96
Florian Dauphin
TOTALENERGIES+11:38
97
Hugo de la Calle Arango
BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH+11:38
98
Axel Zingle
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+11:38
99
Luke Durbridge
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+11:38
100
Clément Russo
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+11:38
101
Robert Donaldson
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+11:38
102
Kelland O’Brien
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+11:38
103
Jonas Geens
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+11:38
104
Connor Swift
INEOS GRENADIERS+11:45
105
António Tomas Morgado
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+11:47
106
Daniel Cavia Sanz
BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH+13:02
107
Filip Maciejuk
MOVISTAR TEAM+15:24
108
Cesar Macias Estrada
BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH+15:24
109
Michiel Lambrecht
TEAM FLANDERS - BALOISE+15:24
110
Sean Flynn
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+15:24
111
Brem Deman
TEAM FLANDERS - BALOISE+15:24
112
Nickolas Zukowsky
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+15:24
113
Erik Nordsaeter Resell
UNO-X MOBILITY+15:24
114
William Levy
UNO-X MOBILITY+15:24
115
Sven Erik Bystrøm
UNO-X MOBILITY+15:24
116
Silvan Dillier
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+15:24
117
Orluis Alberto Aular Sanabria
MOVISTAR TEAM+15:24
118
Stanisław Aniołkowski
COFIDIS+15:24
119
Victor Vercouillie
TEAM FLANDERS - BALOISE+15:24
120
Edward Theuns
LIDL-TREK+15:37
121
Johan Jacobs
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+15:37

Cover image credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com

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Danny

Danny Bellion

Senior Tech Editor

Danny is an ultra-endurance cyclist and the technical co-founder of Velora. He’s been riding for over 20 years across road, gravel and MTB and done gravel races on both sides of the Atlantic. He’s completed ultras including BikingMan Oman and Dales Divide, where he finished 2nd in 2021.

Away from racing, he’s ridden in more than 40 countries, from bikepacking trips across Europe to an eight-month tour of Asia. He draws on two decades of experience to inform Velora’s product reviews, training and event coverage.