The classic cycle race the Tour of Flanders was won by two reigning world champions on Sunday. In the men’s race, Tadej Pogacar won Flanders’ Finest for the second time in his career. In the women’s race, Belgian favourite Lotte Kopecky took a third win in this classic race, becoming the sole record holder.

Tadej Pogacar is the seventh male reigning world champion to triumph in the rainbow jersey at the Tour of Flanders. The 26-year-old Slovenian laid the foundations of his second win in Flanders’ Finest by responding to an attack by Belgian favourite Wout van Aert on the final climb of the Oude Kwaremont hill. Pogacar opened up a gap on the rest there and was able to continue alone to Oudenaarde.

“I couldn’t be prouder,” said a beaming Tadej Pogacar in the flash interview. “I’m really super happy to win the Ronde van Vlaanderen in this jersey.” Behind him, Dane Mads Pedersen won the sprint for second place, ahead of outgoing winner Mathieu van der Poel from the Netherlands. Wout van Aert fell just short of the podium in fourth place.

Kopecky as sole record holder

In the women’s race, Belgian favourite Lotte Kopecky also managed to win in the rainbow jersey. After 168.9 km, the reigning world champion crossed the finish line first after a sprint against Frenchwoman Pauline Ferrand-Prévot , German Liane Lippert and Polish Katarzyna Niewiadoma.

With her third triumph, Kopecky becomes sole record holder in Flanders’ Finest. The 29-year-old Belgian previously won the race in 2022 and 2023. “That record doesn’t mean that much to me at the moment,” Kopecky said in the interview afterwards. “I am especially super happy that I was able to win today in the rainbow jersey. That now means more to me than that third time.”