Team Emirates’ Pogacar soars to dominant victory at Fleche Wallonne

Tadej Pogacar powered up the steepest part of the final Ardennes hill Wednesday to reclaim the Fleche Wallonne classic title after a cold and rainy 205km slog over 11 climbs.

With a mud-splattered face, the three-time Tour de France champion could barely raise a smile at the finish line, as plucky Frenchman Kevin Vauquelin emerged second and Briton Tom Pidcock third.

The 23-year-old Vauquelin was also runner-up last year, proving he will often be a force in races culminating with a short, sharp hill.

Pidcock, having quit Ineos in the close season for the second-tier Q36.5 team, can also be proud of a fine finish in a strong field.

Winner of the Brabantse Pijl last Friday on his comeback from injury, Belgian hope Remco Evenepoel was right in the thick of the race before fading to ninth over the last 200m as Pogacar switched into a gear nobody else could find.

More than just a warm-up race for Sunday’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege raced in the same region, but 50km longer, this race runs through the Ardennes forest but over 11 of the region’s steepest climbs.

Pogacar, who last won at the Tour of Flanders on April 6, was clearly tired but delighted after his latest efforts.

“It’s a beautiful place, but as a cyclist you don’t like it so much, such a tough finish,” said the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader.

“It’s a really great feeling, the weather wasn’t so good but winning again is all that counts. We worked well as a team today and we’ll have a similar one for Sunday at Liege,” said the 26-year-old, who won at Liege last year in the absence of the injured Evenepoel.

Wednesday’s race culminated with the fearsome Mur de Huy, just 1.3km in length but with gradients hitting 19 percent with an average of 9.6.

Pogacar said he attacked when he saw Irishman Ben Healy, who finished fifth, draw level with him.

“I said ‘Okay he looks fast’. So I accelerated and when I looked over my shoulder, no one was there. But really that’s the hardest kilometre in cycling,” he added.

This marked a strong return to winning form for Slovenian superstar Pogacar following two consecutive runner-up finishes in recent high-profile races.

Just over a week ago, he finished second behind Mathieu van der Poel at the grueling Paris-Roubaix — a race known for its punishing cobblestones and legendary difficulty. He then came close again at the Amstel Gold Race, where he was edged out by Denmark’s Mattias Skjelmose in a tightly contested finale on Sunday.

For a rider of Pogacar’s caliber, accustomed to standing on the top step of the podium, those near-misses served as extra motivation.

His latest victory not only reaffirmed his dominance in the peloton but also sent a clear message that he’s back in top form and hungry for more wins as the season progresses.

Skjelmose had been highly fancied again here but the 24-year-old was one of several riders who slid out of the race on a slick corner around 40km from home on a day of unrelenting rain.

His Lidl team-mate Thibau Nys had also been touted as a man who could beat Pogacar on the final climb but eventually came eighth, perhaps due to the fact Skjelmose had dropped out.

A stubborn escape group clung on until the final ascent, in a sign of how little appetite there was for a long-range bid for glory from one of the race favourites.

Many of Wednesday’s competitors will be back in action Sunday in the same corner of the Ardennes for the Liege-Bastogne-Liege ‘Monument’ over 252km where an escape is more likely.

Agencies