The first part of the 2026 season is a dream come true for Tadej, who today added the Tour of Flanders to his wins at Strade Bianche and Milano–Sanremo. Belgium’s biggest one-day race was, as always, extremely demanding, and this time Tadej faced especially strong rivals. Besides Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin Premier Tech), Wout van Aert (Visma Lease a Bike) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl Trek), with whom he has fought for the top places in recent years, also Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe), who competed in the Tour of Flanders for the first time.
Tadej rode to victory with the proven tactics from 2023 and 2025. Once again he launched his first attack on the Oude Kwaremont climb a good 55 kilometers before the finish of the 278.2-kilometer race, significantly thinning the leading group. He also accelerated on the next climbs, Paterberg and Koppenberg. Only van der Poel was able to follow.
However, Evenepoel was not far behind either, so Tadej could not ease up on the flat sections, as he did not want the exceptional Belgian rider to get back into contention for the win. »I didn’t want Remco to come back to the front, because I know how good his endurance is. At the end of the race he can always come back and beat you. I tried to make the difference, and I succeeded,« Tadej said at the finish.
He beat van der Poel in a very similar way to in 2023 and 2025. The Dutchman fell behind on the final climb of the Oude Kwaremont 18 kilometers before the finish. Tadej then increased his advantage a bit more on the climb of the Paterberg. The gap grew to more than 40 seconds in the final flat kilometers. The victory was convincing; van der Poel took 2nd place, Evenepoel 3rd.
»Today’s race was crazy; it was extremely hard well before the finish. We did wait a long time to attack, but it was demanding just turning the pedals once the front group formed. Luckily we worked quite well together in it, which suited me,« Tadej added about how it unfolded.
With his third win, he joined the group of eight legends of the Tour of Flanders. Among the record holders are also van der Poel, who was the best in 2020, 2022, and 2024, Achiel Buysse, Fiorenzo Magni, Eric Leman, Johan Museeuw, Tom Boonen, and Fabian Cancellara.
Today, Tadej celebrated the 111th victory of his career and has now gone seven races without defeat, dating back to the September World Championships in Rwanda. He wants to continue this streak next Sunday, when Paris–Roubaix awaits him, the only one of the five Monuments he has not yet won.
»I don’t race much, but when I do, there’s pressure to win. So far everything has gone perfect for me. I can be more than happy. I can go to Roubaix motivated and enjoy the cobbles,« added Tadej.