Immense display from Pogačar to win second Tour of Flanders title

With an imperious display across the cobblestones of Flanders, Tadej Pogačar rode alone to the finish in Oudenaarde to win his second Ronde van Vlaanderen title on Sunday. It was a bold show of aggression from the world champion, whose final and decisive attack on the Oude Kwaremont dispatched of his rivals with 18km to go.

The Slovenian was on the move time and time again throughout the race, with Lidl-Trek’s Mads Pedersen and defending champion Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) appearing to be the only riders who could follow his wheel. However, with his stinging acceleration on the third and final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont, Pogačar shook the dogged persistence of Van der Poel and forged his path alone.

Despite Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) forming a four-man chasing group with Pedersen and Van der Poel, Pogačar was not to be caught. The world champion dug deep in the final 10km and extended his advantage to the line. Accepting that their battle against Pogačar was futile, the chasers could only sprint for second place, with Pedersen taking second place ahead of Van der Poel in third.

In winning his second Tour of Flanders title – following his victory in 2023 – Pogačar moves up to eight Monument victories and takes UAE Team Emirates-XRG‘s 24th victory of the season.

Earlier in the race, Pogačar and his teammates were dealt a blow as Tim Wellens and Jhonatan Narváez were both forced to abandon after crashing. However, bouncing back from their own crashes, both Nils Politt and Florian Vermeersch valiantly made their way back to the pack in order to help the world champion, as Mikkel Bjerg and António Morgado rose to the occasion.

Between the quartet, UAE Team Emirates-XRG dictated the pace of the peloton for much of the afternoon and ensured that Pogačar would remain out of danger. Such was the enthusiasm of Morgado that when the pace lulled with 69km to ride, the 21-year-old roared his way back to the front and delivered another crucial pull – drawing a nod and a smile from his teammate, Pogačar.

Some 5km later, Morgado emptied the tank for one final time, handing over the reins to Politt, who climbed out of his saddle and thrust another turn of speed on the bunch. Under his pressure, the peloton became well strung out as they approached the second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont. It was here that Vermeersch, who had battled bravely to regain ground following his crash, came to the fore and delivered Pogačar for his first attack of the day.

Between here at 56km to go, and the last ascent of the Kwaremont with 18km to ride, it was a cavalcade of extraordinary attacks from Pogačar, with Van der Poel producing his own accelerations for good measure. The pair ultimately appeared to be the strongest over the Flemish bergs, but Pedersen would often dig deep to stay in the wheels.

The group of favourites oftentimes swelled and grew to include the likes of Van Aert, Stuyven, Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Tiesj Benoot and Matteo Jorgenson (both Visma-Lease a Bike), but it was on the cobbled climbs that their presence was dealt with.

Over the Paterberg, Koppenberg, Steenbeekdries and the Taaienberg, Pogačar was forever on the front foot, pressuring his rivals with every surge of acceleration. On the Taaienberg, the Slovenian went clear with only Van der Poel and Pedersen for company, and on the Oude Kruisberg/Hotund, it was only Van der Poel that could stay on Pogačar’s wheel. However, as is often the case in Flanders, the race situation changed on a dime and heading into the final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont, it was anybody’s race to win.

Van Aert did his best to anticipate the action, but when Pogačar made his crucial blow with 18km to ride, the world champion slung around the Belgian and launched himself free of the group. Try as he might, Van der Poel’s attempts to stay in the wheel proved no match for the world champion, who crested the climb with a 12-second advantage.

This gap had grown to 25 seconds over the top of the Paterberg – the final climb on the route – and for the last 13km, Pogačar fought with tooth and nail to evade capture. With Van Aert, Van der Poel, Stuyven and Pedersen in pursuit, it was four against one on the road to Oudenaarde, but the world champion came out on top.

Once he had celebrated a second win at the Ronde van Vlaanderen, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG man put into words how much the victory meant for he and his teammates.

Pogačar: “The goal was to win and in the end, it is hard to make it happen. We did it. I could not be more proud of the team and how we raced today, even though we had some bad luck. I am just so happy to win this race in this jersey.

“Florian [Vermeersch] somehow chased back the whole race [after his crash] and made it just in time to lead out on the Kwaremont, so chapeau to him. We were unlucky to lose Tim and Jhony with crashes but we never gave up, all of the riders kept coming back. Mikkel [Bjerg], António [Morgado] – everybody – all of my teammates went over themselves to do the plan and even with setbacks they did it perfectly.”

2025 Tour of Flanders result:

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 5:58:41

2. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) +1:01

3. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) s.t