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Monday, April 7, 2025

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The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights. - Muhammad Ali

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Current racing:

• April 7 - 12: Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco

Upcoming racing:

• April 8 - 12: Region Pays de la Loire Tour
• April 9: Scheldeprijs
• April 13: Paris-Roubaix

Latest completed racing:

• April 6: Ronde van Vlaanderen
• April 5: GP Miguel Indurain
• April 5: Volta NXT Classic
• April 4: Route Adélie de Vitre
• April 2: Dwars door Vlaanderen
• April 2: Paris - Camembert Lepetit
• March 24 - 30: Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
• March 30: Gent - Wevelgem
• March 30: La Roue Tourangelle
• March 25 - 29: Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali
• March 28: E3 Saxo Bank Classic
• March 26: Classic Brugge-De Panne
• March 22: Milano-Sanremo
• March 21: Bredene Koksijde Classic
• March 20: GP de Denain

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Ronde van Vlaanderen/Tour of Flanders team reports

We posted the report from second-place Mads Pedersen's Team Lidl-Trek with the results.

Here's the report from winner Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emriates-XRG

With an imperious display across the cobblestones of Flanders, Tadej Pogačar rode alone to the finish in Oudenaarde to win his second Ronde van Vlaanderen title on Sunday. It was a bold show of aggression from the world champion, whose final and decisive attack on the Oude Kwaremont dispatched of his rivals with 18km to go.

Pogacar attacks on the Oude Kwaremont.

The Slovenian was on the move time and time again throughout the race, with Lidl-Trek’s Mads Pedersen and defending champion Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) appearing to be the only riders who could follow his wheel. However, with his stinging acceleration on the third and final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont, Pogačar shook the dogged persistence of Van der Poel and forged his path alone.

Despite Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek) and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) forming a four-man chasing group with Pedersen and Van der Poel, Pogačar was not to be caught. The world champion dug deep in the final 10km and extended his advantage to the line. Accepting that their battle against Pogačar was futile, the chasers could only sprint for second place, with Pedersen taking second place ahead of Van der Poel in third.

In winning his second Tour of Flanders title – following his victory in 2023 – Pogačar moves up to eight Monument victories and takes UAE Team Emirates-XRG‘s 24th victory of the season.

Earlier in the race, Pogačar and his teammates were dealt a blow as Tim Wellens and Jhonatan Narváez were both forced to abandon after crashing. However, bouncing back from their own crashes, both Nils Politt and Florian Vermeersch valiantly made their way back to the pack in order to help the world champion, as Mikkel Bjerg and António Morgado rose to the occasion.

Between the quartet, UAE Team Emirates-XRG dictated the pace of the peloton for much of the afternoon and ensured that Pogačar would remain out of danger. Such was the enthusiasm of Morgado that when the pace lulled with 69km to ride, the 21-year-old roared his way back to the front and delivered another crucial pull – drawing a nod and a smile from his teammate, Pogačar.

Some 5km later, Morgado emptied the tank for one final time, handing over the reins to Politt, who climbed out of his saddle and thrust another turn of speed on the bunch. Under his pressure, the peloton became well strung out as they approached the second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont. It was here that Vermeersch, who had battled bravely to regain ground following his crash, came to the fore and delivered Pogačar for his first attack of the day.

Between here at 56km to go, and the last ascent of the Kwaremont with 18km to ride, it was a cavalcade of extraordinary attacks from Pogačar, with Van der Poel producing his own accelerations for good measure. The pair ultimately appeared to be the strongest over the Flemish bergs, but Pedersen would often dig deep to stay in the wheels.

The group of favourites oftentimes swelled and grew to include the likes of Van Aert, Stuyven, Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Tiesj Benoot and Matteo Jorgenson (both Visma-Lease a Bike), but it was on the cobbled climbs that their presence was dealt with.

Over the Paterberg, Koppenberg, Steenbeekdries and the Taaienberg, Pogačar was forever on the front foot, pressuring his rivals with every surge of acceleration. On the Taaienberg, the Slovenian went clear with only Van der Poel and Pedersen for company, and on the Oude Kruisberg/Hotund, it was only Van der Poel that could stay on Pogačar’s wheel. However, as is often the case in Flanders, the race situation changed on a dime and heading into the final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont, it was anybody’s race to win.

Van Aert did his best to anticipate the action, but when Pogačar made his crucial blow with 18km to ride, the world champion slung around the Belgian and launched himself free of the group. Try as he might, Van der Poel’s attempts to stay in the wheel proved no match for the world champion, who crested the climb with a 12-second advantage.

This gap had grown to 25 seconds over the top of the Paterberg – the final climb on the route – and for the last 13km, Pogačar fought with tooth and nail to evade capture. With Van Aert, Van der Poel, Stuyven and Pedersen in pursuit, it was four against one on the road to Oudenaarde, but the world champion came out on top.

Once he had celebrated a second win at the Ronde van Vlaanderen, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG man put into words how much the victory meant for he and his teammates.

Pogačar: “The goal was to win and in the end, it is hard to make it happen. We did it. I could not be more proud of the team and how we raced today, even though we had some bad luck. I am just so happy to win this race in this jersey.

“The plan was to go from the Oude Kwaremont and we followed the plan, even though we had some crashes in the team. We made it, we stuck to the plan and we finished it off.

“Florian [Vermeersch] somehow chased back the whole race [after his crash] and made it just in time to lead out on the Kwaremont, so chapeau to him. We were unlucky to lose Tim and Jhony with crashes but we never gave up, all of the riders kept coming back. Mikkel [Bjerg], António [Morgado] – everybody – all of my teammates went over themselves to do the plan and even with setbacks they did it perfectly.”

Here's the Tour of Flanders report from fourth-place Wout van Aert's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

Wout van Aert finished fourth in the Ronde van Vlaanderen. The Belgian rider of Team Visma | Lease a Bike played a key role in a spectacular race, together with teammates Tiesj Benoot and Matteo Jorgenson. It was Tadej Pogacar who claimed victory in the Flemish Monument.

Under the eye of a massive crowd, the peloton rolled out of Bruges shortly after 10 a.m. for the 109th edition of the Tour of Flanders. Team Visma | Lease a Bike made its presence known early on. With just over 100 kilometres to go, the team sent Benoot up front, anticipating the race together with several other outsiders.

With 60 kilometres remaining, the entire Visma | Lease a Bike squad was still well positioned. On the second ascent of the Oude Kwaremont, Pogacar threw down the gauntlet. Van Aert and Jorgenson followed, with Mathieu van der Poel and Mads Pedersen also in tow.

Not long after, Van Aert seemed to suffer, but with support from Benoot – who by then had been caught by the favourites – and Jorgenson, he managed to stay in contention. Van Aert eventually bridged back to the leading riders. At the foot of the Oude Kwaremont, he launched an attack himself. The Belgian carved out a small gap, but had no answer to a blistering move by Pogacar, who rode solo to victory.

Van Aert continued to do his share of the work in the chasing group of four. In the sprint for second place, he had to settle for fourth. Behind them, Benoot was rewarded for his strong performance with sixth place.

Wout van Aert chasing hard on the Oude Kwaremont. Sirotti photo

“I’m happy with how we raced today”, Van Aert said after the finish. “In the end I just missed out on the podium, but I think it was a fair sprint. Fourth place was the best possible result today. I managed to get back into the race and wanted to try something heading into the final climb of the Oude Kwaremont. It was a battle at times to stay with Tadej, Mads and Mathieu, but I think I gave it everything I had.”

Van Aert also praised the work of his team. “With Tiesj and Matteo up front, we had all our cards on the table. That was the plan. At one point the three of us were in a chasing group together, and we could work really well to bridge the gap. I think we didn’t put a foot wrong as a team. There’s no shame in finishing fourth today. Of course, it would’ve been nicer to be on the podium, but I’m at peace with it. All the hard work of the past weeks has paid off — I showed a good level today. That gives me confidence heading into next week”, he added, referring to Paris–Roubaix.

“We rode a very good race”, head of racing Grischa Niermann added. “It’s a shame Wout didn’t make the podium, but we should be proud of the way we raced. We were present at the front, with Tiesj anticipating early and Wout and Matteo both riding at a high level. All three of them looked strong. It looked like Wout was the second strongest in the race near the end, but I think the result tells the truth. He managed to respond again and again to the attacks from Mathieu and Tadej. That’s a good sign. It shows that, as a team, we’re in a good place — in both depth and quality. Today gives us confidence for what’s still to come."

Here's the report from eighth-place Filippo Ganna's Team INEOS Grenadiers:

Filippo Ganna put in a determined performance at the Tour of Flanders to sprint to eighth place in Oudenaarde.

The Italian went on the offensive during the 269-kilometre Monument, forcing his way into a breakaway group to get up the road with 100km of racing still to go.

Supported in the move by teammate Connor Swift, the team had multiple bases covered, with Ganna cresting the Koppenberg at the same moment he was reeled in by a big-name counter-attack.

Filippo Ganna leads in the peloton to finish eighth. Sirotti photo

With pre-race favourites Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin – Deceuninck) bridging across and going clear, Ganna was ultimately forced to limit his losses and manage his efforts on the run-in. The Grenadier did a great job to lead in the sprint for eighth place – his first top-10 in De Ronde.

The fight for victory saw Pogacar go away on the third passage of the Oude Kwaremont, eventually winning solo by 1:01 over Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and van der Poel.

Also present in the chasing sprint group was Magnus Sheffield, who took 20th place. The American battled back from a mechanical issue on the Paddestraat and had great support in the lead group. Narrowly unable to follow the attacks second time up the Kwaremont, he tried to get away late on before slotting back into the group.

After a rapid start, Swift was one of eight riders finally able to go clear. The Brit proved to be a great help in driving the group once Ganna bridged across, while Jungels, Ben Swift, Ben Turner and Sam Watson all provided support for Sheffield in the group behind.

Here's the Ronde van Vlaanderen report from Yves Lampaert's Team Soudal Quick-Step:

Sunday brought another edition of the Ronde van Vlaanderen, a race which comprised 16 hills and seven cobblestone sectors that gradually whittled down the peloton, who pushed a big tempo from the moment they left behind the neutral start in Brugge. In addition to the many difficulties of the day, the numerous crashes that took place also had an impact in the way things unfolded, many riders losing contact with the bunch as a result of these incidents.

The win went to Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), who attacked from an elite group the last time up the Oude Kwaremont, with around 20 kilometers to go, and opened a substantial lead over the chasers, which he kept until Oudenaarde, where he took the victory after the fastest edition of De Ronde.

Team Soudal Quick-Step riders training Friday on the course. Sirotti photo.

Former Belgian Champion Yves Lampaert – who made his 11th appearance here – concluded his home Monument as the first Soudal Quick-Step rider home, just like a couple of days ago, at Dwars door Vlaanderen. The 33-year-old from Izegem came at the finish together with a large group, around two minutes behind the winner.

And here's the report from John Degenkolb's Team Picnic-PostNL:

The spring classics continued on Sunday for the second Monument of the year: Ronde van Vlaanderen. Team Picnic PostNL set-out with a motivated squad, that like a lot of teams in the race, looked to get ahead and anticipate the action later in the day. As a result the battle for the breakaway was intense but Team Picnic PostNL were always alert at the front and made sure they were represented in any attack that looked like it might stick. Eventually the elastic snapped and a group of eight went clear – that included both Sean Flynn and Timo Roosen.

Working well together the break built up an advantage of around four minutes but the peloton didn’t allow it to grow out any further. In the bunch, the battle for position was fierce on the wide roads after the first passage of the Oude Kwaremont. Unfortunately there was a large crash which saw John Degenkolb go down, and ultimately abandon the race.

John Degenkolb training on the Oude Kwaremont a few days before the race. Sirotti photo.

Ahead, Roosen emptied the tank in the break, while Flynn then pushed on as it reduced down to six riders before a strong counter-attacking group joined them. On the second passage of the Oude Kwaremont with just over 50 kilometres to go the pace really increased and Flynn had to let go of the wheels in the break, returning to what was a reduced peloton. From there, he and Patrick Eddy fought to the line in Oudenaarde as best as they could.

After the finish Flynn expressed: “The fight for the break went on quite a while but we covered it really well as a team. I was really happy to get into the move that eventually went with Timo. It was a good break and I think we rode well as a group. We took a nice advantage into the hill zone but the race opened up really early from behind, so it wasn’t long before we were joined by a strong group. I felt pretty good at that point and was able to hold onto them for quite a while. Coming onto the Kwaremont for the second time the race was really on and I was starting to get pretty tired. I suffered from there but tried to keep fighting, and knew it was going to be tough having been out in the break for so long, but I’m proud of fighting through and finishing this beautiful race. It was really an incredible experience. I’ll never forget racing on the front of the Kwaremont two times; it was something special.”

Here's an updated post from Team Picnic PostNL on the John Degenkolb, Tim Naberman and Alex Edmonson injuries:

Luck was not on the team’s side today at Ronde van Vlaanderen, as a crash has left John Degenkolb, Tim Naberman and Alex Edmonson all with injuries that are set to sideline them for the upcoming period.

Building into his favourite part of the season with promising results and growing form, Degenkolb lined-up at Ronde van Vlaanderen wanting to put on a strong ride over the cobbles ahead of his favourite race the following weekend, Paris-Roubaix.

Unfortunately, disaster struck for Degenkolb, Naberman and Edmonson as a rider crashed right in front of them at 126 kilometres remaining. With nowhere to go the Team Picnic PostNL trio hit the deck. Leaving the race and taken to hospital for x-rays and checks, they revealed that Degenkolb fractured his collarbone, elbow and wrist. Naberman also fractured his wrist in the fall, while Edmondson has a sprained ankle.

Team Picnic PostNL doctor Camiel Aldershof said: “John hit the ground with quite a lot of force in the crash; and the in-race medical team immediately suspected a fractured collarbone. He was transferred to the local race hospital where further checks and x-rays were conducted. Those then unfortunately confirmed that John indeed fractured his collarbone, alongside his wrist and elbow on the same side. He will undergo surgery on his wrist, before a period of recovery. Timelines can often change but we expect him to be out of competition for two months. At the moment Tim doesn’t need surgery, but we will do another control and check on him this coming week to see if that situation changes, but of course he will be out of racing too while he recovers. Alex will rest his ankle and we will see how he progresses over the upcoming week or so.”

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