It has been a hell of a Classics season so far: crashes, drama, records broken and surprise victors galore. It’ll be challenging to sum it all up in just a few hundred words, but we’ll be damned if we don’t try!
Milano-Sanremo
Having taken his now customary victory at Strade Bianche, way back in March Pogačar once again attempted to best the beast of Sanremo.
The easiest Monument to finish, but the hardest to win had certainly seemed that way for the World Champion, who has been thwarted by Milan-Sanremo every year since 2020 and this bucking of Pogačar's efforts to tame the race has only added to La Classiccissima’s allure. This year, that changed as Pogačar proved exactly why he is, quite simply, the greatest bike rider there has ever been.
It was all set. UAE Team Emirates were in control, the race was approaching the Cipressa, and all expected an infernal pace to be set before Pogačar launched himself to glory. It didn't quite go to plan: Pogačar was caught in a crash a handful of kilometres from the foot of the Cipressa. The race went on, the World Champion picked himself up and, almost unbelievably, consumed the minute gap to the peloton just as they hit the slower slopes.
Pogačar, towed by two of his ever-faithful domestiques then proceeded to simply ride around the entire peloton on the Cipressa, before launching one of his trademark devastating attacks to take Tom Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel with him off the front. The Slovenian had crashed, recovered, rounded the entire peloton, attacked and set the fastest time ever on the climb, and he still wasn’t done.
Mathieu van der Poel, Pogačar's eternal shadow, was finally beaten, and only Pidcock could follow. The Slovenain, who attacked the Poggio and its technical descent with a vindictive hatred born from its ability to thwart him, had finally slipped the leash. All of this, it transpires, on a broken frame. It was, quite simply, a sublime watch. Shock at his crash, wonder at who would make an opportunistic attack to snatch glory from beneath him turned to awe at his phoenix like resurgence. To top it all off we were treated to a nail-biting sprint between Pogi and Pidcock, which went the World Champion’s way by a mere 4 centimetres. It was phenomenal stuff, and in the words of Ned Boulting: "The impossible race has been won by the impossible rider." You couldn’t have written a better way for Pogačar to finally conquer the unconquerable.
The Ronde van Vlaanderen
In fairness, you probably could have written the script for the Ronde van Vlaanderen however. Pogačar took his second Monument of the season, and a record equalling third Tour of Flanders victory in typical fashion at the race: he distanced everyone early on, beat van der Poel on the final time up the Oude Kwaremont, and rode to victory solo. It wasn’t quite a carbon copy of last year’s dominance, as for a brief moment the tantalising prospect of a lead group containing Mads Pedersen, Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar teased one hell of an explosive finale. Mightily impressive though his display was, the Slovenian’s relentless pressure shattered any chance of us being treated to the five best Classics riders in the world battling it out across the cobbles.
Paris-Roubaix
What the Ronde perhaps lacked in drama, the Hell in the North provided in absolute spades.
The 129-year-young Monument is a frighteningly vicious beast which refuses to be domesticated. A perfect broiling whirlpool of mayhem induced by bone-jarring cobblestoned sectors. It is a race of Shakespearean brilliance deservedly enshrined in cycling folklore.
After a titanic battle across the fields of Northern France last year, all expected van der Poel and Pogačar to take their bout to the line once again. Even the best laid plans rarely survive contact with the enemy however, or in this case the Trouee d’Arenberg.
With Wout van Aert leading the peloton onto the 2.3km stretch of wooded hell, first Tibor del Grosso, and then Mathieu van der Pool could be seen peeling off onto the grassy verge, having felt the sharp edge of the French cobbles. Like a scene from a slapstick comedy, first van der Poel took Jasper Philipsen’s bike before realising that his teammate’s innovative pedal setup prevented him from riding it. He quickly discarded the useless steed before wondering forlornly along the grass as the peloton pounded by. Quick-thinking Tibor however, had busied himself switching his unpunctured wheel for Mathieu’s. A stroke of genius, which lasted bare seconds as van der Poel fell afoul of the fate spinning Norms and punctured once again. By the time the flying Dutchman was up and running once again, he was 2-minutes behind the leading group.
An alliance forged in desperation with Filippo Ganna of the Ineos Grenadiers saw the pair close to within 20 seconds of Pogačar and Van Aert. Through sheer grit Van der Poel managed to involve himself in the sprint for third, finishing just off the podium. A brilliant display, lost in the carnage of the wider unfolding narrative.
A narrative defined by puncture after successive puncture. Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen and Tadej Pogačar all suffered, with the World Champion even forced to briefly ride a neutral bike before being reacquainted with his trusty machine.
Pedersen was distanced on the Auchy-lez-Orchies cobbled sector, and we settled in for a desperate duel between van Aert and Pogačar. The Slovenian, wary of van Aert’s blistering sprint, tried time and again to shell his pursuant on the final few cobblestoned stretches of road. Teeth gritted, arms shaking, van Aert simply would not be denied. The roar from cycling’s faithful which greeted the sight of these two fan favourites entering the Roubaix Velodrome together, was matched only by the furious cannonade of joy which erupted as Wout rounded Pogačar and left the World Champion in the dust to take a thoroughly deserved first victory at Paris-Roubaix.
At a race which never fails to excite, 2026’s edition will not soon be forgotten. It had everything. Crashes, punctures, chaos, a brilliant battle of skill and endurance between two of this generation's greatest stars and a beloved winner. Long live the Queen of the Classics.
Redemption for Remco.
Last year’s edition of the Netherlands’ premium hilly classic went to the wire, won with a bike throw by Matthias Skjelmose as the Dane outsprinted not just Remco Evenepoel, but a certain Pogačar to take victory. This year, an elite group set off in pursuit of the isolated Frigo, led by Romain Gregoire and featuring Kévin Vauquelin, Matteo Jorgenson, Skjelmose and Remco Evenepoel. This group was expected to battle it out for victory until, with about 40 kilometres remaining, a crash altered the course of the race. Vauquelin, sat fourth in a group of six, slid out on a tight corner, bringing down the in-form Jorgenson with him. The American hit the curb hard, suffering a broken collarbone, whilst Gregoire, Skjelmose and Evenepoel were left to their own devices.
Having caught and dispensed with Frigo, Gregoire held onto the coattails of his companions until the Cauberg, but his valiant effort was brought to a halt by the relentless pace of Evenepoel. Skjelmose took it to the line once again this year, but Evenepoel, having been thwarted by the brilliance of Pogačar at the Ronde, would not be denied. The Belgian took a cathartic first victory at the Amstel Gold Race with a powerful uphill sprint from Skjelmose’s slipstream.
