Pogačar wins the Tour of Flanders for the third time in his career

Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogačar won the Tour of Flanders today, for the third time in his career.

The Emirates rider, along with his great rival, Dutchman Matthieu van der Poel from Alpecin, was the strongest in the group. Together they rode at the front, overtaking other rivals along the difficult route, and with around 18 kilometers to go, the world champion attacked on the final climb of the Ud Kvarmon.

The Dutchman fought back, but was unable to catch Pogačar, who finished the race in six hours, 20 minutes and seven seconds, or 34 seconds ahead of his rival. The two hugged at the finish line.

Third place was taken by Red Bull driver Belgian Remko Evenepoel, one minute and 11 seconds behind.

Pogačar and Van der Poel are the race record holders with three wins each.

"Today was a crazy race. It was super difficult, and then a bit of a waiting game," said Pogačar.

The Tour of Flanders is one of the most challenging one-day races, and was first held in 1913.

This year's 278-kilometer route contained 16 short but demanding climbs and several cobblestone sections.

It is one of the five "monumental" - the most prestigious races on the calendar, along with Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour of Lombardy.

Pogačar won the Milan-San Remo race this year, for the first time in his career.

He has 12 victories in "monumental" races, ahead of only the legendary Eddy Merckx with 19.