The China Mail - Pogacar wins Van der Poel duel at cycling's Tour of Flanders

The duel between the Slovenian and defending champion Van der Poel played out across the 17 hills in bright sunshine before Pogacar went solo.

Principally a Grand Tour rider world champion Pogacar won both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in 2024 and here won his eighth Monument, moving ahead of one-day specialist Van der Poel on seven.

"The goal was to win but at the end it's hard to realise. I cannot be more proud of the team," said a beaming Pogacar at the end of the 270km slog before 750,000 boisterous roadside fans.

The event is not only the key event on the one day calendar but something of a shared national experience in Belgium.

The race embarked under bright blue skies for once heading into the lush green Flanders fields with windmills and happy weekend crowds gathered round beer tents.

Of the main contenders Italy's Filippo Ganna, second at the Milan-San Remo in March, broke at 100km to go with fellow Italian Matteo Trentin.

But they were caught and overtaken by Pogacar and Van der Poel at 60km to go as the pair then began an infernal struggle to drop one another.

Van Aert redeemed himself from a flop on Wednesday when he caught the pair and briefly dropped them both, a key moment in the struggle, as when Pogacar then retaliated the big Dutchman had nothing left in the tank.

The whole circus now moves on to the Paris-Roubaix mudfest next Sunday where a similar set of contenders will scrap it out on the cobbled mining roads of the border region with Belgium and France.

There Pogacar will be making his first appearance.

"Roubaix is a completely different race but I will accept the challenge and try to do my best. Flanders suits me better but with the shape I'm in now I should give it a try," said Pogacar.

There are five ultra-long one-day bike races known as the Monuments, and the Tour of Flanders is considered the greatest because of the constant steep, narrow climbs coupled with crowds that even a 100 years ago began to tip over half a million.

The other four Monuments are Milan-San Remo, which calls for patience, the Paris-Roubaix with its perilous rough-hewn cobbles, Liege-Bastogne-Liege through the winding forested lanes of the Ardennes, and the Tour of Lombardy which is a climbers' classic.

Shuttle buses and extra trains have been laid on throughout Flanders for what is regarded by many as an unofficial world championship.

C.Smith--ThChM