Pro Log: Is there anything Tadej Pogačar can’t do?

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Pro Log: Is there anything Tadej Pogačar can’t do?

Welcome back to another edition of Pro Log. As you can guess from the title, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) has dominated headlines recently, winning the Volta a Catalunya with four stage victories, the points jersey and mountains jersey to boot. But it’s not just his victories, it’s the manner in which he claimed them that is so impressive. More on that soon.

At Brugge-De Panne, both Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won through bunch sprints. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) soloed to the E3 Saxo Bank Classic victory, with Jasper Stuyven (Lidk-Trek) and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) finishing over a minute and a half down.

Yesterday, at Gent-Wevelgem, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) edged out Balsamo in a photo finish while Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) beat Van der Poel to the line.

Tadej Pogačar continues to be a problem for the peloton

Tadej Pogačar can do it all. Solo victories, mountaintop wins and now… bunch sprints. At least that was the case during the 145.5km final stage of the Volta a Catalunya. It wasn’t a straightforward sprint day however, with six ascents of the Alt del Castell de Montjuïc paining the legs, but a bunch would contest a fast-paced finish. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) tried to break away in the final 2.5km, but couldn’t distance the rest, being caught just after the flamme rouge.

This marked Pogačar’s fourth win of the stage race. He won Stage 2, 3 and 6 via a breakaway, his longest coming on the sixth day at 30km solo. His Stage 7 victory is probably the most audacious. After the week he’s had, of course Pogačar would be there to contest the sprint. Sure, it was ahead of Dorian Godon (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), but the point stands.

He’s always there or thereabouts. Like an annoying, talented gnat.

Salute to Mathieu van der Poel

The E3 Saxo Bank Classic scales climbs used in the upcoming Tour of Flanders, although reverses the ascents of the Paterberg/Oude Kwaremont combination. It was on the Paterberg that Van der Poel made his move, going over the top solo and distancing the field.

But whilst this was happening, main rival Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), who won the race in 2022 and 2023, crashed on the Paterberg. He came back hard, distancing the group to try and catch Van der Poel alone, but could never reel him back in. He was caught by Jasper Stuyven, the Lidl-Trek rider finishing just ahead of him in second.

Let’s hope that with a winner in Van der Poel, they can advertise the race without ridiculous posters next season.

A photo finish at Gent-Wevelgem

It was a close call at the women’s Gent-Wevelgem. Grace Brown (FDJ-Suez) tried to stage a last-ditch breakaway inside the last 3km but was caught just 500m short. Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) then led out teammate Lorena Wiebes, who was sprinting side-by-side against Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) for an exciting photo finish in the women’s race. Wiebes would win just ahead of Balsamo with Chiara Consonni third for UAE Team ADQ.

Meanwhile Lidl-Trek played it perfectly for the men’s Gent-Wevelgem, Jonathan Milan trying his hand at attacking with teammates Mads Pedersen and Jasper Stuyven in a chasing group. When Milan was caught, Pedersen attacked and Milan resurged to follow followed, resulting in a four-man group containing Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ).

Approaching the finish, only Pedersen and Van der Poel remained in front. The pair faced one another in a long sprint, Pedersen winning the day and Van der Poel sitting up in the last 50m. Behind, Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) won the bunch sprint for the last spot on the podium.

See you next week.

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