The Crash That Nearly Ended the Dream
The race exploded with 32 kilometers to go. As the peloton jockeyed for position before the Cipressa, Soren Kragh Andersen clipped Pogacar’s front wheel. The Slovenian hit the deck hard. Within seconds, a pile-up swallowed Wout van Aert, Biniam Girmay, and Matteo Jorgenson. While his rivals checked for broken bones, Pogacar was already back on his feet. He grabbed a teammate’s bike and began a desperate, solo chase that defied logic. By the time the leaders hit the final climb, the Poggio, Pogacar had somehow clawed his way back to the front group.
On the Poggio’s steep ramps, Pogacar didn’t just climb; he attacked. Only Britain’s Tom Pidcock possessed the raw power to stick to his wheel. The duo crested the summit together and descended the hairpins like men possessed, leaning their bikes into corners with terrifying speed. The gap to the chasing pack held at seven seconds as they hit the flat of the Via Roma. Pidcock opened the sprint early, but Pogacar found one final surge, winning by half a wheel at the line.
“I thought it was over when I hit the ground. My shoulder was burning, but I kept thinking about Roubaix and the set. I didn’t care about the pain. Beating Tom in a sprint after 300 kilometers is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
— Tadej Pogacar, UAE Team Emirates
Kopecky Dominates Women’s Edition
Earlier in the day, the women’s peloton faced its own drama on the Cipressa descent. A massive crash thinned the field, but world champion Lotte Kopecky stayed upright. Kopecky eventually triggered a four-woman break and out-classed her rivals in the final 200 meters. The win adds to her 2024 Paris-Roubaix title, cementing her status as the premier classics rider of this decade. Fans on the roadside were treated to a masterclass in tactical positioning as she forced her competitors to lead out the sprint before she powered past them in the final moments.
The Road to the Full Set: What’s Next
With this victory, Pogacar now holds titles in Milan-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and Il Lombardia. Only Paris-Roubaix remains. He confirmed after the race that he will head to the “Hell of the North” next month. If he wins in the velodrome, he will become only the fourth rider in history—joining Eddy Merckx, Roger De Vlaeminck, and Rik Van Looy—to win all five Monuments. Given his current form and his ability to recover from a mid-race disaster, few are betting against him making history in April.
