The Tour of Flanders always delivers. The favourites in both the women’s and men’s races might have run out winners - suggesting it was all a bit predictable - , but only after epic battles. There is no doubt Demi Vollering and Tadej Pogačar were deserving winners. In the days after, however, I’m left feeling a little sad that I have to wait a whole year , not just for Flanders, but for the build-up, the hype, and the action itself. At least we still have Paris-Roubaix to come.
There was something different about this year’s race, too, which would have been missed by most – it was the first time I wasn’t at the race since 2021, either as a fan or as a journalist. While this meant I missed out on the incredible atmosphere which comes with the event, a cross between Glastonbury and the FA Cup Final, it did give me the chance to actually watch the races live. This is a much harder task on the ground than you might imagine. The most I saw of Pogačar and Lotte Kopecky winning in 2023 was a blur from the side of the Oude Kwaremont, and in 2025 glimpsed on a phone screen from the mix zone where the press have to wait.
