Van der Poel takes tactical Flanders finale

Dutchman bides time as ‘impressive’ Tadej Pogačar loses out on podium place

- Vern Pitt, Chris Marshall-Bell, Adam Becket

Serial winner Tadej Pogačar made a rare but glaring tactical error at the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, where he finished fourth in a two-up sprint for the win.

The Slovenian had ridden a superb debut at the cobbled Monument but was beaten by Mathieu van der Poel after he and the Dutchman played a waiting game to start the sprint. That saw chasers Dylan van Baarle (Ineos Grenadiers) and Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) catch them up and squeeze Pogačar off the podium within sight of the line.

Had Pogačar kept riding or gone to the front he could have assured himself a place in the top two or even won.

The Tour de France champion was visibly annoyed but after he’d calmed down he told reporters: “In the moment, I was really disappointed because I couldn’t do my sprint. I was boxed in. But that’s cycling: sometimes you’re boxed in, sometimes you have an open road. I was not mad to anyone; it may have seemed like this, but I was just frustrated with myself because I couldn’t do the best 100m to the finish.”