Ronde van Vlaanderen 2026, monument, April 5 (men's)

[Dazed and Confused]

Yes, Sainbayar use everything you got to get into the break. Lets go.

 

[Heston]

Red Bull's team is looking incredibly strong on paper. They could end up with lots of riders in the final.

 

[KZD]

Perhaps my favourite race of the season, hopefully we get to watch a cracking race without anyone getting seriously hurt.

I expect this to be another battle between Pogačar and Van der Poel and one with quite some big implications. If Van der Poel wins, he will become the record holder with 4 Ronde wins which would be a major milestone in his career. If Pogačar wins, he would tie the record with 3 wins and take another step to win all 5 monuments in the same season or at least become the first rider to win 4 in the same season.

Then we have the second tier favourites. Van Aert has been looking good and while I don't think this race suits him as well as Roubaix he might take advantage of some tactical scenario to be in a winning position at the end. In contrast to Van Aert, Pedersen hasn't been looking as good as in 2025 but his sprint always makes him a dangerous rider. And then we have debutant Remco. While I believe that he will struggle in the first few climbs due to positioning, if he survives that, the others can't give him any sort of gap because I expect him to be strong.

I am going with Pogačar to get his 12th monument win and I will keep an eye on Van Baarle as an outsider

 

[AmRacer]

I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it
I'm about to lose control and I think I like it

 

[Red Rick]

Good to see the weather gods listened to my plea of 4 bft+ wind, but they refused to comply with the 2nd half of my plea to make headwind from all sides.

I blame Fujin the most.

 

[fenns]

betting says 66% chance of Taddy winning - which I'd say is generous considering only a crash, medical or mechanical can stop him IMO

 

[AmRacer]

betting says 66% chance of Taddy winning - which I'd say is generous considering only a crash, medical or mechanical can stop him IMO

He seems to be able to win most of the times anyway.

 

[iBanesto]

 

[RedheadDane]

Valgren referring to the wind situation as "A calm day in Thy."

 

[fenns]

He seems to be able to win most of the times anyway.

I guess at some point he's going to dnf again in one of the monuments

 

[Rob5091]

First 100km done in under 2 hours?

 

[search]

Pogacar is the favorite, but even with him the gaps remained relatively small the past couple of years, with >40 guys within ~2 minutes last time for example.

As Trentin said in the pre-race interview, we have seen a bit of a pattern of the peloton becoming "smarter" recently. It gets organized more quickly, doesn't automatically give up after an early attack etc. And it's also something were Evenepoel's presence could make a difference.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

First 100km done in under 2 hours?

Will be hard to do with the headwind in those two hours, I seriously doubt it

 

[Red Rick]

betting says 66% chance of Taddy winning - which I'd say is generous considering only a crash, medical or mechanical can stop him IMO

If he crasehs he probably takes out MvdP and Van Aert for Roubaix while coming out without injury himself

 

[fenns]

If he crasehs he probably takes out MvdP and Van Aert for Roubaix while coming out without injury himself

suck Taddy's wheel - expect consequences

 

[canina82]

Van der Poel interview: "Pogacar seems even stronger than last year. Last year I didn't have an answer when he went on the second passage of the Kwaremont. I hope I have an extraordinary day and I can contest the win in the finale."


Also, the interviewer asked him if he and his dad talked about the fact his dad won the Ronde forty years ago.

"Nah, we don't talk about races. Especially ancient ones."

 

[RedheadDane]

Okay, that settles it!
Now we know who the Big Five are.

 

[Berniece]

Oliviera showing how it’ll be going for UAE today

 

[TheKidsCallMeBoss]

Pogacar is the favorite, but even with him the gaps remained relatively small the past couple of years, with >40 guys within ~2 minutes last time for example.

As Trentin said in the pre-race interview, we have seen a bit of a pattern of the peloton becoming "smarter" recently. It gets organized more quickly, doesn't automatically give up after an early attack etc. And it's also something were Evenepoel's presence could make a difference.

The race will be decided with 17 kilometres to go. Considering that, the gap is quite large.

 

[tp4493]

Oliviera showing how it’ll be going for UAE today

?

 

[RedheadDane]

There's gonna be an interesting smell in that tunnel...

 

[Berniece]

?

It was a joke, he crashed at the start

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Peeing in the tunnel? Throw them out of the race. It's not the Scheldepis.

 

[rghysens]

The race will be decided with 17 kilometres to go. Considering that, the gap is quite large.

Most of those 40 riders were already gapped with 55km to go.

 

[RedheadDane]

They're off!
As expected, the small teams attack first.

Looks like Visma won it in a late sprint.