"I don't think that anybody else can follow Pogacar" - Bruyneel and Martin anticipate Tadej Pogacar domination in Flanders

Johan Bruyneel and Spencer Martin have shared their thoughts for the upcoming Tour of Flanders, in which they have talked about the main favourite Tadej Pogacar; record chaser Mathieu van der Poel; and the local heroes Wout Van Aert and Remco Evenepoel.

"Some of the big favorites were not there, mainly Van Der Poel was not there, and Tadej Pogacar was not there, but still, it's a hard race," Bruyneel said of the recent Dwars door Vlaanderen, where Wout Van Aert was the headliner, on The Move podcast. In this race, the Belgian cemented his excellent current form, and must have had a big confidence boost.

"It was really nice to see the confirmation of Van Aert's really good condition, I think. You know, I think since Milano - Sanremo, basically, he's been up there you know, and shown definitely better form than in the past few springs, whether that was because things didn't work out or there was crashes or illness involved. But third place at Milano - Sanremo, he was one of the big players in Gent-Wevelgem, together with Mathieu Van Der Poel, until they got caught just before the finish".

The Visma rider has been for many years in the fight for the win in Flanders but has never gotten it, with bad luck getting in the way in recent years often as well, with crashes derailing his sprint. He is perhaps going to be the crowd favourite, alongside Remco Evenepoel, in the Flandrien bergs.

"It is crazy how popular Wout Van Aert is, and how everybody wants him to win one of those big races," the pundit continues. "You know, unfortunately, it didn't happen. It would have been a nice revenge, right? I mean, nice revenge for last year's mess up with the three Visma's against Neilson Powless. And then also revenge on the crash, the huge crash that a few years ago basically almost ended his career, I think, because that crash was really, really bad."

But the World Champion, after finally winning Milano-Sanremo, and dominating Strade Bianche, is perhaps the undeniable man to beat in a race often decided by the climbs. The endurance aspect of the race, with 278 kilometers in total, will make the final hour of racing even harder than what it would be otherwise in a regular race.

"I think it's really difficult to look past Pogacar, Spencer. You know, as we said already multiple times in other podcasts, the special conditions of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix are that there are other circumstances, There's bad luck, there are more potential race circumstances than any other race..."

However, it is a race where tactics have in recent years become less important, whereas the endurance and climbing power have become too much for the outsiders to aim for victory. Long gone are the days of surprises at 'De Ronde'. And the likely winner, in Bruyneel's eyes, is clear.

"I don't think that anybody else can follow Pogacar. And if Mathieu van follow him, then of course I think Matthew wins if it's the two of them to the finish. But yeah you don't know, you know what I mean? Let's see van der Poel, he has lost sprints. You know, he has lost to Asgreen (in 2021, ed.), as you just said, he has lost to Pedersen in a two man sprint (Middelkerker-Wevelgem 2025, ed.)".

But the decisions are to be made on the climbs, where initially van der Poel succeeded 12 months ago; but on the final time up the Oude Kwaremont, it was just not possible.

Spencer Martin argues that on the cobbled climbs, there is only one man who will have the chance of following the UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider, although that isn't likely: "I mean, normally I would agree with you that the only rider that can stay with Pogacar is van der Poel... I don't think he's going to stay with him, but do you think that is he significantly fitter than Wout van Aert on a course like for Flanders right now? Or even Filippo Ganna? No, not van der Poel, not really".

The duo have also discussed Remco Evenepoel's addition to the startlist this week, which did not come without its controvery. "I believe on Wednesday he announced he was doing this race, wrangled some of the press because his team has basically been openly mocking journalists who say 'I've heard rumors that Remco might do Flanders' and they make fun of them and say 'of course not," Martin points out.

Whilst it was kept a secret, it came at a cost of actively lying about his presence, all the way until the minute he announced it on the 1st of April. Coordinated, but meant to deceive the general media. "The strategy behind that... very weird. I don't know why you would do that, why you would want to make an enemy of the press like that".

"Makes me think that they claimed it was coordinated, this was a secret... That does not sound like a coordinated strategy to me, but why do you think he's entering it? And how do you think he's going to do it? Do you think he's should be third favorite?"

Whilst in terms of endurance, climbing ability and tactics the Olympic Champion is certain to thrive in, Flanders does continue to be a race where experience matters, and it's not everyone who can do well on their debut in such a tense and dangerous race.

"Personally, I don't know. I think the plan was probably their plan B, whatever it was. But as you say, they would have hinted at it or announced it or something," Bruyneel responded. "I think it's a last minute decision, last minute meaning maybe the last week or the last 10 days".

They didn't decide it on Tuesday and announced it on Wednesday. Maybe if it was during Catalunya or before Catalunya I don't know. I am surprised, however, that he's third favorite. He's never done this race. He knows the course, but he's never raced the course. It's completely different".

The Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe is the ultimate wildcard for the race, but a man who can't be underestimated, something that has been said very clearly by both Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel.

"As I said, they do have a really strong team, probably the strongest team or the best functioning team in all the Flemish spring races we've seen until now. So that's obviously a huge benefit," Bruyneel said of the German team.

"But man, Kwaremont and Paterberg at the end, that explosion of pure power... Remco does have a lot of power, he rode away from everybody in the Olympics in Paris - there was also a couple of climbs - but it's not the same thing," he believes. "It's not the same thing. I think he can play a role, but it's going to depend on the circumstances".