The Tour of Flanders once again lived up to its reputation as “Flanders’ Finest”, as the 110th edition unfolded today over a brutal 278 km course from Antwerp to Oudenaarde, featuring iconic cobbled sectors and climbs, all set against the unmatched passion of the Flemish fans.
Bahrain Victorious honoured the second Monument of the season with a committed and aggressive race from the start. Kamil Gradek was part of the early breakaway, which formed with around 250 km to go, in a group of around a dozen riders.
The race began to ignite over the Molenberg, with 107 km remaining, as the acceleration of the favourites caused splits in the peloton. A strong front group formed, including Matej Mohorič, who bridged across to the leaders and remained at the front deep into the race.
The decisive move came on the Oude Kwaremont, with 57 km to go, when world champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Emirates) attacked, followed by Wout van Aert (Visma Lease a bike), Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull Bora), Mads Pedersen (Lidl Trek), and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin Premier Tech). One by one, the group split apart, with Pogačar eventually riding solo to his third Tour of Flanders victory.
Behind, Mohorič delivered a strong and resilient ride, holding his position to finish in 8th place in Oudenaarde.
“I’m super happy and proud of today’s race. We really rode together as a team,” said Mohorič after his sixth Ronde. “The young guys showed themselves early on and helped us a lot. Alec Segaert also did a great job: 15th place is a strong result in such a field.
This race was brutal and very honest. In the end, everyone was on their limit because it was so hard from early on. Now we’re all looking forward to next week. Roubaix is different. More chaos, more crashes, and you need some luck; but hopefully it will be on our side. For now, I just want to enjoy this result and be proud of how we raced as a team.”
Sports Director Nikolas Maes praised the team’s effort:
“Today we saw another epic Tour of Flanders. The big riders started pushing already on the Molenberg, which made the race incredibly hard.
Matej was exactly where we wanted him to be. He made it into the front group of around 15 riders and stayed there until the second passage of the Oude Kwaremont, when the strongest riders went clear as expected. Matej was just behind that elite group of five and kept fighting, dropping other riders and continuing all the way to the finish with Florian Vermeersch (UAE Emirates) and Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quickstep). In the sprint, he couldn’t beat them, but 8th place is a very solid result for us.
We aimed for a top ten and achieved it. With Alec Segaert also finishing 15th, it’s a performance we can be happy with.”
Maes also highlighted an emotional moment from Alessandro Borgo, who completed his first-ever Tour of Flanders:
“Alessandro was in tears at the finish, tears of happiness. It really shows how big this race is and what it means, especially for a young rider in his first year as a professional.
At first, it surprised me, but then you realise what he just accomplished, finishing such a demanding Monument. Moments like this show how closely emotion and sport are connected, and that’s what makes cycling so special.”
