6 conclusions from the Tour of Flanders 🇧🇪
Analysing performances from Pogačar, Van der Poel, Pedersen, Ineos, Haller, and Van Aert
Hi Subscribers,
I’ve come to the realisation that I can’t watch two races at once, and when I do, it goes a bit like this.
So, I will watch the women’s edition of the Tour of Flanders later this evening and prepare some conclusions for the morning. In the meantime, here are six conclusions from the men’s race (no spoilers).
The first one is free, while the rest are behind the Substack paywall.
Remember, there’s a 20% sale on annual subscriptions right now. To take advantage of this, click on the link below.
Thanks
Daniel 🫶
Pogačar the problem solver 🧰
We’ve seen Pogačar win from long range, come back from a crash to still win, and dominate opponents as if he’s out on a training ride.
However, on Sunday at the Tour of Flanders, we witnessed a new side to the Slovenian as he cooly and calmly tackled problems as they arose on the road. This wasn’t his most destructive victory or the best all-conquering performance of his career, but it was one of his most complete wins, and what really stood out was that he looked absolutely shattered at the end - something we don’t always see from the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider.
With 127km to go, Jhonatan Narváez crashed, and within another kilometre, Tim Wellens lay on the deck. These two riders, when not riding in the assistance of Pogačar, would be top-five contenders in their own right, so to lose them before the major climbs was a huge blow. On top of that, Florian Vermeersch was also held up in the Wellens crash and was forced into a long chase, which robbed him of his best legs.
This resulted in Pogačar being effectively down to Nils Politt, António Morgado, and the incredible Mikkel Bjerg. The Dane put in one the best rides of his career, keeping the dangerous break of Kung and Ganna to around a minute, before Morgado and Politt put in important cameos with around 75 and then 64km to go. However, by the time the race hit the Kwaremont for the second time, Pogačar was totally isolated.
No problem. Attack is the best form of defence, and the world champion duly attacked with 56km to go - while riding on the grass, no less.
There was a re-grouping soon after, but on the Paterberg, Pogačar followed van der Poel’s acceleration before the world champion made further moves on the Koppenberg, Steenbeekdries, Taaienberg, Oude Kruisberg/Hotond, and the decisive attack on the last ascent of the Kwaremont. By the time he reached the last climb of the Paterberg, he had no one left to drop.
This was such a deliberate and concise wearing down of the opposition that by the time the chase group of Van Aert, Pedersen, Stuyven, and Van der Poel finally came together, they had nothing left. Even a difficult headwind couldn’t help the chasers' numerical advantage.
Pogačar saw off several attacks and chased when he needed to, and not once did he look flustered, even when the likes of Kung and Ganna had over a minute on him. Lidl-Trek, Alpecin, and Visma Lease a Bike all had numbers, riders up the road and smart tactics, but Pogačar unpicked every lock and every strategy by racing with his head as well as his legs.
For the world champion, there are no more plaudits. This has been the norm for so long that it’s hard to remember a time post-pandemic when he wasn’t a race favourite.
Common sense still dictates that winning Paris-Roubaix at his first attempt will be a bridge too far, but common sense went out the window a long time ago when it comes to what we’re witnessing in the sport right now.
“The goal was to win, but in the end, it’s hard to realise it. We did it and I can’t be more proud of the team today, even though we had some bad luck. In the end, all was good and I’m just happy to win in this jersey. The plan was to go from there, even though we had some crashes in the team, but we stuck to the plan, and we made it,” Pogačar said at the finish.
He even makes it sound simple in his post-race interviews.
Pedersen best of the rest 🇩🇰
Mads Pedersen is talented enough to win a Monument; there’s little doubt about that.
However, the stark reality is that he’s not on Pogačar’s level and with each passing opportunity, it’s hard - but not impossible - to see the Dane winning a race such as Flanders or next week’s Paris-Roubaix. Even on a day like today, when he fought valiantly, had a brilliant team around him, and defeated Van der Poel in a sprint for second, it still wasn’t enough.
“When Tadej is in this mood, it’s just not possible,” he said at the finish.
“I’m super proud to wear this jersey and ride for this team. If I had attacked with 75km to go, you guys would have given me shit for that. You’re always talking about me being too early, and this time, we believed in me being able to follow them. I showed today I could follow quite long. Okay in the end, the way Tadej is riding away, he’s doing it alone, and no one can follow him. All in all, I’m proud of the tactic that we had,” he added.