A Three-Stage Breakdown: How Pogačar Peeled Away His Rivals Layer by Layer to Win a Third Tour of Flanders in 2026

A Race That Can Be Read in Three Separate Acts

On April 5, 2026, Tadej Pogačar claimed his third Ronde van Vlaanderen title, becoming only the eighth rider in history to win the race three times.

What makes the Tour of Flanders so hard is that it isn’t decided by a single moment—it’s about climbing the same hills multiple times. Names like Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg keep reappearing in the race report, and with each repetition, the peloton sheds another group of riders. The 2026 edition can be neatly divided into three distinct acts.

Act One: Molenberg—Not an Attack, but a “Clearance”

With just over 100 kilometers remaining, the team pushed hard on the Molenberg. The goal of this phase wasn’t to settle the race but to reduce the complexity of the finale.

The danger of the Tour of Flanders is never just strong rivals—it’s the numbers. More riders mean more variables: bad positioning, dropped chains, road furniture, spectators. Compressing the peloton dramatically in the middle of the race is effectively compressing the variables of the final 100 kilometers. This was the team buying insurance for their leader.

Notably, this work barely shows up in the highlight reel, but without it, the later attack would have had to be launched from within a chaotic, packed bunch—and the success rate would have been completely different.

Act Two: The Second Ascent of Oude Kwaremont with 55 km to Go

On the second climb of Oude Kwaremont, with 55 kilometers still to race, Pogačar struck.

Only two riders could follow: Mathieu van der Poel and Remco Evenepoel.

That trio alone tells you everything about the intensity—one is the modern king of one-day racing with a Monument collection second only to his own, the other an all-rounder who would later finish second overall at that year’s Tour de France. Three riders forming the lead group meant everyone else had been eliminated from contention.

On the Paterberg that followed immediately, Evenepoel was dropped.

The Paterberg is a short, brutally steep cobbled climb defined by one trait: “you can’t pace your way through it.” You must deliver power far above your threshold in a very short window. For a grand-tour time-trialist/climber, this kind of explosive climb is often the most unfavorable terrain. The race went from three riders to two.

Act Three: The Final Oude Kwaremont, Leading by Just 6 Seconds

On the final ascent of Oude Kwaremont, Pogačar finally shed van der Poel—but at the summit, he led by only 6 seconds.

Six seconds is barely a gap in cycling. On flat roads, a strong chaser can erase it within a few kilometers. So the real battle happened after the summit: he didn’t wait. He kept applying pressure, stretching those 6 seconds into an unrecoverable margin, and finally crossed the line solo.

This act also explains why many consider his rivalry with van der Poel the best storyline of this generation. Their Monument tallies stand at 13 and 8 respectively, far ahead of any other active rider; former Tour de France champion Óscar Pereiro once said this is the best rivalry since the 1990s.

Three Practical Takeaways for Taiwanese Riders

1. Climbing the Same Hill Repeatedly Is Completely Different from Climbing It Once

For Taiwanese riders familiar with Fengguizui or the Yangjin P-shaped mountain road, if the route were changed to “climb the same section three times in a row,” the pacing logic would shift entirely. How much you hold back on the first lap determines how much you have left on the third. Training on repeated sections brings you closer to the feel of a Classic than simply chasing a single best time up a climb.

2. Short Steep Climbs and Long Climbs Are Two Different Abilities

Paterberg-style short, steep climbs test short-duration high power output and cadence control; long climbs test sustainable intensity. These two abilities don’t automatically transfer to each other and need to be trained with separate stimuli. Please progress gradually according to your own condition, and avoid adding too much high-intensity training at once.

3. A Successful Attack Doesn’t Equal a Win

The 6-second lead at the summit is the number most worth remembering from this race. Opening a gap is only the beginning; holding it and extending it is what finishes the race. The same logic applies to breaking away from a group ride or going solo in a gran fondo.

Summary

The 2026 Tour of Flanders wasn’t won by a single decisive blow—it was completed in three sequential acts: clearance, dismantling, and soloing away. The third title puts him among just eight three-time winners in history, and the most fascinating part of the entire race is this: every move was understandable, yet no one could stop him.

Related Reading

• Breaking Down Pogačar’s Five Wins at the 2026 Tour de France: Five Stages, Four Mountain Zones, One Winning Formula?
• Pogačar Crowned for a Fifth Time: A 2026 Tour de France Overview, a Year Alongside Four Legends
• The Timing of Pogačar’s Attacks: The Same Logic Behind 78 km, 55 km, 24.2 km, and 7.2 km
• 26 Tour de France Stage Wins: Pogačar’s Harvest Route from 2020 to 2026