Enthusiastic fans with Flanders flags also lined the course at the 2022 edition of the Dutch spring classic.
Photo: AFP/Dirk Waem
The Tour of Flanders is characterized by two of the largest cycling portal ducks of the present day. Two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia) and 2020 Ronde winner Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) headed for the finish by a wide margin. But then the two delayed the sprint. The pursuers came closer and closer. And while van der Poel pedaled hard at the moment of the merger and was the first to cross the finish line, Pogacar was built in by the pursuers and ended up in thankless fourth place after Dutchman Dylan van Baarle (Ineos) and Frenchman Valentin Madouas (FDJ). Space. “During the sprint you have to sprint and not just wait,” van der Poel commented dryly on his rival’s mishap.
The race started with a handicap. Because the Flanders king, the local classics specialist Wout van Aert, was missing. He missed the start of the Tour of Flanders because a cold weakened him and then a PCR test turned out positive. At least the Flemings were there. Admittedly, van Aert’s personal fan club was less numerous than usual at the traditional location, the cobblestone rise of the Oude Kwaremont. »What should we set up there? To see van der Poel attack?”, fan club boss Peter van Echelpoel dismissed the “Het Nieuwsblad”.
But numerous other van Aert fans came to the side of the road. In rows of two, three, even five, they stood at the edge of the route. Many enthusiastically waved the yellow and black flags of the Flemish lion. More than half of the distance over 272 kilometers, however, the race trickled along. A breakaway group of nine, among them Max Kanter (Movistar) from Cottbus, broke away early and was left out for up to five minutes.
However, men who were eligible for the day’s win were not among them. For a long time, hostilities were therefore limited to battles for position in front of the small hilltops, the Hellingen, which were often covered with cobblestones. The motto for the first 200 kilometers was not to be late on the climbs and then to be left behind. The German racing team Bora hansgrohe interpreted this game quite well. Jonas Koch initiated a second escape group about 100 kilometers from the finish. He was later followed by teammate Marco Haller. Eleven professionals formed this second group. The teams of the top favorites Pogacar, UAE Emirates and van der Poel, Alpecin Fenix were not represented. Other teams that weren’t at the front also tried their hand at tracking. It jerked in the field.
Pogacar made his first attack in this confusing situation. It was, of all things, on the second run through the Oude Kwaremont, the van Aert fans’ regular spot. The Flanders newcomer flew over the cobblestones with ease. In his wake, other co-favorites such as van der Poel and the current cross-country world champion Tom Pidcock (Ineos) as well as last year’s Flanders winner Kasper Asgreen showed up for the first time.
At the next slipway, van der Poel became active for the first time and increased the pace. Pogacar reacted calmly. Last year’s winner Asgreen, on the other hand, had a defect. The race was over for the Dane, and so was his team, Quick Step Alpha Vinyl. Pogacar and van der Poel pulled away a little later, with Frenchman Valentin Madouas in their slipstream.
The trio caught two breakaways and finally took the lead with 38 kilometers to go. Pogacar looked fresher in this part of the race. Van der Poel, after various back problems only entered the road season at Milan – San Remo at the end of March, but did not reveal an inch. On the third passage through the Oude Kwaremont, the two of them got rid of their last companions. Pogacar tried to shake off van der Poel on the last few climbs. That failed and everything seemed to end in a sprint duel between Pogacar and van der Poel.
But then the Slovenian gambled away: In second position, he kept slowing down to tempt his rival to start. But even this one was delayed. After 272 kilometers of racing, the two offered a standing position. The muscles grew cold. “The stress also increased,” admitted van der Poel, noticing the approaching pursuers. But while he was still able to use his explosive power, Pogacar’s muscles failed. The Slovenian learned a surprising lesson on his debut in Flanders. Such events, however, make this race a true monument of cycling.
