"To me Vingegaard is much more of a cyclist" - Dutch pundit blasts Mathieu van der Poel's passive tactics against Tadej Pogacar

The 2026 Tour of Flanders has finished but the race has delivered action for hours in the steep climbs of the Flemish region. Tadej Pogacar came away with the victory, but he was hardly put under pressure by his rivals. Dutch pundit Thijs Zonneveld directly criticized Mathieu van der Poel for the way he worked together with the World Champion despite being on the back foot in the race's key final hour.

"They are mates. Look at how they hug after the finish line. It is more than just annoying to me; I find it awful. It takes away from what cycling is to me. Cycling is not like running where the strongest always wins," Zonneveld said on the In de Waaier podcast.

The tactical aspect in cycling is very complex and often leads to the strongest rider not taking the win. But in the modern peloton the difference between the very best and the rest is incredibly high; and since 2022, only three riders (Tadej Pogacar, Mathieu van der Poel and Remco Evenepoel) have won 21 out of the last 24 monuments. That streak is expected to continue as no other rider will have a main favourite role in 2026, under regular conditions.

In the post-Flanders CyclingUpToDate discussion, there was a wide spectrum of opinions regarding the tactics that Tadej Pogacar's rivals deployed in order to chase the best possible result in the monument of the season.

After Tadej Pogacar attacked the Oude Kwaremont's second ascent, Remco Evenepoel worked with him before getting dropped. Then, Mathieu van der Poel worked with the Slovenian before getting dropped in the same way he had 12 months ago, on the exact same climb later on.

"After the Paterberg, he was asked 'what if you get together with Pogacar?' If he doesn't ride along, he changes the essence of his race experience. He is not willing to do everything to win that race. In my view, he should be willing to put up with the feud with Pogacar by sitting on his wheel. Let everyone catch up. But yes, that is very negative racing."

With Evenepoel coming back to the group, it is widely argued that van der Poel's chances of winning would improve. This is because if the Olympic Champion attacked, the pressure to respond and/or chase would be on Pogacar; whilst it could also provide van der Poel with a chance to slow down and recover; and both these situations could on paper improve the possibilities of the race ending in a sprint which would favour him.

"It's not his way, but if you want to beat Pogacar in this day and age, I think the only way is not to ride at all. I think he's also afraid that if he doesn't ride, he'll still get dropped on the Kwaremont. That's somewhere in his head, because that would be really painful."

For van der Poel, who had the chance to win Flanders for a fourth time and beat the record, it would've been an historical triumph. Into 2027, both he and Pogacar now have a chance to make history.

But in Zonneveld's opinion, van der Poel had every reason not to work with the Slovenian at that point in time. "Would he lose face? Maybe to the other riders, and to part of the crowd. But I think a large part of the crowd would actually really like to see it."

"It is wonderful that they ride with their hearts, but you also see the downside of it. Look at the guys who aren't riding along. There are few of them. Vingegaard is one of the few who really dare to ride tactically. Vingegaard is an attacking rider, but he is seen as a boring guy. Because he doesn't always ride along."

Vingegaard recently had a verbal battle with Remco Evenepoel at the Volta a Catalunya over an initial refusal to work; but this also happened at the 2024 Tour de France's gravel stage famously. But this is ultimately part of the sport's tactics, the Dutchman argues.

"He is, damn it, one of the riders who approaches cycling as cycling," Zonneveld praises. "If he gets wrecked by Evenepoel in a flat stage, he thinks 'figure it out yourself'. At its core, tactics are about fighting it out on the terrain where you think you have an advantage over the other. And then getting your opponent there too."

"Pogacar handles that strategically well. Everyone likes him and he has much more likeability than Vingegaard, even though to me Vingegaard is much more of a cyclist, if you use that definition. That you manage your energy smartly and try to beat a better rider that way. He gets a lot of shit for hanging on the wheel, while he is the only one who dares to tell Pogacar 'figure it out yourselves'."