He joins van der Poel and six others on an elite list of riders who have won the Tour de Flanders three times. It includes legends of the sport such as Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara.

Pogačar broke away from the peloton with around 57 km to go, with only a handful of riders able to hold his wheel. Van der Poel and Pogačar soon opened up a small gap on their main rivals, before Pogačar attacked one more time on the Kwaremont climb, around 18 km from the finish, to finally break free of the Dutch rider.

Afterwards, the Slovenian said, "It was a really crazy race today, I think. It was super hard and it was a waiting game. I was happy that we (Pogačar and van der Poel) kind of cooperated. I sure didn't want Remco back in the group because I know how strong of an endurance rider he is. Everything went perfect for me and I can be more than happy. Next week in Roubaix, I will be motivated."

Another Slovenian, Matej Mohorič, finished an impressive 8th today.

The riders' attention will now turn to the Paris-Roubaix race next Sunday, also known by the moniker 'The Hell of the North'. Pogačar will be hoping to complete the full set of Monuments.

Pogačar is in second place behind Belgium's Eddy Merckx on the all-time list of winners of the Spring Classics, or so-called Monuments, with 12 victories.

The women's race was won by Demi Vollering of the Netherlands, who launched a solo attack with around 20 km to go to claim her first Tour of Flanders title.