The 110th edition of the Tour of Flanders is officially in the books. And what a race it was, fully deserving of its place as our favorite race.
Tadej Pogačar equaled the all-time record by securing his third Flanders victory, while Demi Vollering conquered her cobbled demons. But beyond the podiums, this race gave us tactical meltdowns, legendary quotes, and an actual legal investigation involving a commuter train.
1. The Peloton Might Go to Court Over a Train
It wouldn’t be a Belgian Spring Classic without a bizarre, entirely avoidable controversy. With over 200 kilometers to go, a massive chunk of the peloton, including Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel, blew through red flashing signals on a level crossing before the barriers dropped.
We’ll be honest: we don’t give a fuck. We didn’t give a fuck in 2006 besides being outraged on Peter van Petegem’s behalf, and we don’t give a fuck now. Make the trains stop.
But the law does give a fuck, apparently. The East Flanders public prosecutor’s office has launched an official investigation into the riders. Pogačar and Evenepoel might have to pay €4,000 fines and receive eight-day driving bans for setting a bad example. They can afford it, but it’s weird. Is cycling the only sport where winning a Monument might cost you your driver’s license?
2. Pogačar is Inching Closer to Cycling Immortality
Pogačar won a record-equalling third Tour of Flanders, and didn’t even look like he really dug deep. Or at least, perhaps not as deep as others. There’s no ‘not digging deep’ in this race, after all.
Maybe more importantly than the record, this victory keeps the ultimate single-season cycling sweep of all five Monuments as a possibility. He has San Remo and Flanders in the bank. We know he can win Liège–Bastogne–Liège and Il Lombardia. Which means Sunday’s cobbles and velodrome sprint at the Paris-Roubaix might be the make-or-break moment of what is surely an impossible feat.
Only Rik Van Looy, Eddy Merckx, and Roger De Vlaeminck have the complete set. A win a Roubaix would see Pogcar join them, and also put him three-for-three on Monuments so far this season, leaving open the possibility that he becomes the first person ever to sweep them all in one season.
3. Wout van Aert is Cursed to Suffer on the Kwaremont Forever
The toll this race is taking on Wout van Aert is becoming difficult to watch. The entire nation of Belgium demanded WvA-RvV (we had the t-shirt planned), and Wout found himself well positioned heading into the penultimate ascent of the Oude Kwaremont. And then, his engine simply gave out.
“The legs spoke today,” a devastated Van Aert admitted after the race, noting that he “blew up a little” and couldn’t hold the wheel. He fought bravely to hold off Mads Pedersen for fourth place. He just cannot seem to figure out his home Monument.
4. Demi Vollering Caught Her White Whale (and Buried SD Worx)
For years, Demi Vollering has been the undisputed queen of the hilly Ardennes Classics, while the cobbled races always seemed to slip just out of her grasp. Not anymore.
Riding in her new FDJ-SUEZ colors, Vollering launched a massive, seated acceleration on the Oude Kwaremont that completely fractured the elite women’s group. She soloed to an emotional, tear-filled victory in Oudenaarde. But the sweetest part of the victory? She left her old team in the dust. Lotte Kopecky and the mighty SD Worx-Protime armada were forced onto the back foot, with Kopecky relegated to sprinting for a miserable fourth place. Vollering didn’t just win; she proved she doesn’t need the SD Worx machine to conquer the cobbles.
5. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is a Multi-Discipline Cheat Code
We need to talk about Visma-Lease a Bike’s secret weapon. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, who spends most of her time winning Olympic gold medals on mountain bikes, showed up to the hardest cobbled race of the year on a highly reduced road schedule and casually took second place. She was the only rider capable of initially responding to Vollering’s attack. It is a stark reminder that pure bike-handling talent translates across every discipline, and PFP remains an absolute generational freak of nature.
