Pogačar dominates Tour of Flanders. Nobody is surprised.

A 12th monument for the World Champion as he imposes "Law of the Strongest."

Look at the time gaps at the finish line. This was dominance magnified four times over.

First, there were 34 seconds to runner-up Mathieu van der Poel, who had won the Tour of Flanders three times. A beast beaten down.

Once the Alpecin-Premier Tech rider was dropped on the final ascent of the Kwaremont, the gap just kept opening up. He was helpless, vanquished, put to the sword.

"I did everything I had to do, but someone was stronger. There’s nothing you can do about that," said Van der Poel. "I was riding at 650 watts and couldn’t hold his wheel; cycling is simple. I had to accept the law of the strongest.”

Then there was 1:11 to third place finisher Remco Evenepoel of Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe. On the second climb of the Oude Kwaremont, it was just Remco, Van der Poel and Pogacar. Then a nasty acceleration by the Slovenian knocked him off the wheel. He would never find that wheel again.

While Evenepoel fought gamely and chased for fifty kilometers, holding the gap under 10 seconds for a significant period, he ended the race over a minute down. That was the podium but it certainly wasn’t dramatic racing once Pogačar decided it was time once again to crush people.

Then there was the sad case of Wout van Aert who was also a protagonist for most of the race. However, on the closing meters on the Kwaremont, he began to fade. And then that fade went full-force — just like Evenepoel, he was soon on his own, riding a time trial that accomplished very little. As in fourth place, 2 minutes down and out.

Which brings us to the final star rider who has no answer for Pogačar’s other-worldly, soul-destroying talent. When the race whittled down to five riders, Mads Pederson (Lidl-Trek) was the final man in this elite party. And the first to go out the back.

He had proved surprisingly frisky at Milan San Remo in his early return from injury. However, his race came down to chasing and catching Wout van Aert. The two worked together until Wout finally dropped him. His ledger: 2:48 behind Pogačar.

“It was a crazy race,” Pogačar said post triumph. “I don’t race too much, so when I race there’s pressure to win. So far, everything went perfect so I can be more than happy. Next week I’ll be motivated and try to enjoy the cobbles.”

For the five star riders who chased Pogačar all day, the Tour of Flanders was largely an exercise in futility. It was Mathieu van der Poel who summed it up best: "I have one problem: there’s a phenomenon riding around.”