Tadej Pogacar triumphs at the Tour of Flanders: seventh victory in the rainbow jersey

by Angelo Costa Give me a hard classic and I will lift my palmares. The law of Tadej pogacar crashes on Tour of Flanders, one of the jewels of the bike collector: it's the second time it's happened in the last three editions. The usual pattern: as the kilometers increase, the Slovenian takes a pickaxe to his rivals and eventually crumbles them, arriving alone. He's the seventh in history to do it in the rainbow jersey, now he's also the one who has won the most in monumental races in this Cycling (eight, adding to the count four Lombardy and two Liege) and in the grand tours (four, with three Tours and one Giro). A hunger for victories which does not seem to be subsiding: on Sunday the Cannibal of the third millennium will set his sights on Roubaix, which he will face for the first time.

"The goal was to win, I'm happy to have achieved it with this jersey. The plan was respected" - says the Martian of the bike, who left his comfort zone 56 kilometers from the finish to hammer the energies of his rival Van der Poel, recovering from a banal fall halfway, and the rest of the noble company. He hits one, two, three up to eight times on the cobblestone walls, and then Pogacar gets what he wants: to take away all worries in the last 18 kilometers, a strategy that also earns him the record average of the race. It's his way of making up for the disappointment of the Sanremo and of preparing the most intriguing assault, on a very different type of rocks: "The Roubaix? It's totally different, but it's a challenge that I accept with pleasure. The Flanders is more suited to me, but with this form I can try to win there too', warns the world champion".

Sincere as any severe exam, Flanders rewards the strongest and puts in his wake the most aristocratic of the arrival orders: Pedersen and Van der Poel, the most determined in trying to hinder Pogacar, complete a podium where the rainbow, past and present, is the worthy backdrop. No medal instead for Van Aert, again in racing mode, even if his turns out to be above all a chase. Credit where credit is due to Italy, which plays the leading role until the Divine Slovenian takes control of the day's destinies: with the excellent Ballerini and the courageous Trentin, Ganna also plays ahead, entering the breakaway that a hundred kilometers from the finish line sounds the alarm for the favorites. It all ends at minus forty, under the blows of Pogacar, but for Superpippo - "I'm satisfied, even if I didn't have the legs I would have liked" - it's more than enough to have confirmation: at Roubaix he can also play it out.

Order of arrival 109th Tour of Flanders: 1) Tadej Pogacar (Slo, Uae) km 269 in 5h 58' 41'' (average 44,981), 2) Pedersen (Dan) at 1'01'', 3) Van der Poel (Ola) st, 4) Van Aert (Bel) st, 5) Stuyven (Bel) at 1'04'', 8) Ganna at 2'19'', 10) Ballerini st.

Injured. Elisa Longo Borghini, who fell during the race, restarted but was taken to the hospital at the end of the race: she is under observation for a concussion without effusion.