Tadej Pogacar entered a little more into the legend of cycling on Sunday 2 April by removing with art and manner his first Tour of Flanders, the fourth Monument of his career, at only 24 years old.

On the attack from start to finish, the Slovenian became only the third rider in history - more than a hundred years old in his sport - to have won both the Tour de France (twice) and the "Ronde", joining in this very exclusive club the Frenchman Louison Bobet and the Belgian Eddy Merckx.

And he did it by taking care of the show, as often, by flying in the last ascent of the Old Quaremont, 17 kilometers from the finish, to cross the finish line alone, sixteen seconds ahead of the outgoing winner, Mathieu van der Poel.

In a sign of the Slovenian rocket's relentless dominance, the Dutchman, who was also crowned in 2020 on the Ronde, said, as an absolute tribute: "It was perhaps my best Tour of Flanders. But I came across an unbeatable guy."

"It's a day I'll never forget. I could retire now and look back on my career with pride," commented the mischievous "Pogi" who pushed away with a polite but firm hand, the tray of fries that he was offered barely the finish line crossed.

Take "a few pounds first"

The other big favourite, the Belgian Wout Van Aert, had just passed it, to a disappointing fourth place, almost a minute and a half later, beaten by the Dane Mads Pedersen who settled the small chasing group in the sprint.

Tadej Pogacar knew that he had to start alone to avoid the same mishap as last year when, for his first participation and after having already shown himself the strongest, he was dominated in the sprint by Mathieu Van der Poel, leaving even Dylan van Baarle and Valentin Madouas to jump him on the line.

On Sunday, he ran to perfection, tormenting his opponents in each of the mountains, before stunning the competition definitively on the slippery cobblestones of Vieux Quaremont and Paterberg, to go alone to the finish.

His success, his tenth already this season in only sixteen days of racing, puts him a little more in the category of superstars of his sport.

Double winner of the Tour de France in 2020 and 2021, he now has four Monuments in his musette - more than any other rider in activity - adding to Sunday's Round his victories in Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2021 and the Tour of Lombardy in 2021 and 2022.

Of the five biggest classics on the calendar, he only has Milan-Sanremo, where he finished fourth a month ago, and Paris-Roubaix to conquer. Only one man managed to win the five Monuments and the Tour de France: Eddy Merckx.

"Sanremo is the hardest race to go for. This year, I was in great shape but I'm not going to give up. Roubaix? We'll see if I try one day but I'll have to gain a few kilos first," joked the Slovenian who does not rule out discovering the "queen of classics" in the years to come, but not next weekend.

Falls of several runners

On Sunday, he won at the end of a very lively race, marked by numerous falls and contested at a crazy pace, the fastest in history (44.1 km / h), in the grayness and cold, in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators.

One kid in particular caused chaos in the peloton when the Pole Filip Maciejuk, wanting to climb back into the first positions, slipped into the wet grass on the low side to come and make a "strike" that mowed down forty riders.

Bowling forced several riders to retire, including Peter Sagan and Tim Wellens, Pogacar's lieutenant at UAE, who suffered a broken collarbone. The penalty quickly fell for Flip Maciejuk, knocked out by the stewards.

Lotte Kopecky wins her second Tour of Flanders

On the women's side, Belgium's Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx), already victorious in 2022, won her second Tour of Flanders on Sunday by winning solo in Oudenaarde.

Lotte Kopecky, 27, was 36 seconds ahead of a group of six, sprinted by Dutch teammate Demi Vollering, second, ahead of Italy's Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo).

In the small game of favorites, "everyone put me five stars on social networks and so I had the pressure," commented the Flemish who dropped the Italian Silvia Persico in the Old Quaremont 16 kilometers from the finish. "It's amazing the way we've raced with the team, we're having a great season," she added.

In fact, Lotte Kopecky's success confirms the dominance of her Dutch team SD Worx with nine victories already in 2023.

Since the beginning of the season, Lotte Kopecky had already won the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, while her Swiss teammate Marlen Reusser won in Ghent-Wevelgem and Demi Vollering in Through Flanders.

The Dutch Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar), who was aiming for a third historic victory on the "Ronde", was involved in a fall that prevented her from playing the leading roles. France's Juliette Labous (DSM) finished sixth.

With AFP

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