Tadej Pogačar claims Kwaremont-Paterberg Strava KOM in Tour of Flanders romp

The race-winning Strava file from Sunday’s Tour of Flanders shows Tadej Pogačar bagged a handful of KOMs, including the paired segment of the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg.

So fast was the Slovenian’s ride that it was briefly flagged on the ride-sharing app, to question whether he might have broken the platform’s guidelines. His times have since been accepted to the leaderboards, and reveal the extent of his dominance as he added a third Monument to his palmarès. 

Although his race-winning move came on the penultimate climb, Pogačar's KOM achievements were earned earlier in the day. He bagged four new Strava trophies when he launched a stinging attack with 55km to go, powering away to bridge across to the leading group. 

Steered onto the Oude Kwaremont by his team-mate Rui Oliveira, the duo became the joint holders of the 640m ‘Oude Kwaremont until pavé’ segment, averaging 43.7km/h into the foot of the climb. 

The Slovenian then rampaged up the cobbled street, claiming the ‘Oude Kwaremont Pt1’ segment, and the full climb of the ‘Oude Kwaremont’. On the latter, which is hidden from Pogačar's ride, the eventual race winner clocked four minutes and 29 seconds, toppling Kasper Asgreen’s 2021 time by four seconds. 

From there, Pogačar's Strava blitz continued onto the Paterberg. For the 5.39km ‘Oude Kwaremont + Paterberg’ segment, he averaged 37.6km/h, recording a time of eight minutes and 36 seconds. This puts him on par at the top of the leaderboard with his compatriot Jan Tratnik, now of Jumbo-Visma, who went the same speed during last year’s race. 

According to ProCyclingStats, this year’s men’s race broke records as the fastest-ever edition of the Tour of Flanders. Pogačar's winning time saw him become the first rider to average in excess of 44km/h over the course, beating the previous record of 43.576km/h, held by Gianluca Bortolami since 2001. 

The race’s high speed comes in part due to its lightning-quick start, in which the peloton covered almost 100km in the first two hours. 

Two-time Tour de France champion Pogačar will next be in action at the Ardennes Classics, and is expected to take the start line at the trio of Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liege later this month.