EAST FLANDERS — Tadej Pogacar won the 2026 Tour of Flanders to equal the record of three victories in the race, but the professional cyclist now faces a legal investigation after he was among up to 20 riders who ran a red light at a railway crossing during the event. The East Flanders public prosecutor's office said it is investigating the incident.

The red-light violation occurred with more than 200 km (124 miles) remaining in the 278-km race. The peloton was instructed to stop at a level crossing as the lights turned to red, but a group at the front including Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel crossed the railway tracks despite the signal to pursue the early leaders.

Pogacar said they had not been given enough warning to slow down before the crossing. "Suddenly three guys jump on the middle of the road and start waving to stop," he said. "How can you stop in one second? I think they could prevent this by stopping us before, no?"

"It was a really crazy race today," Pogacar said. "I don't race too much, so when I race there is pressure to win."

With 57 km remaining, Pogacar, Mathieu van der Poel and Evenepoel broke away from the rest of the field on the second of three ascents up the Oude Kwaremont. Evenepoel was dropped by the leading pair on the Paterberg climb and fell behind.

Pogacar and van der Poel rode together for nearly 40 km before Pogacar launched an attack on the final ascent of the Oude Kwaremont. He reached the summit with a six-second lead over van der Poel and held on to take the victory. Van der Poel finished second, 34 seconds behind, while Evenepoel — on his Tour of Flanders debut — finished third, 1 minute 11 seconds back, holding off Wout van Aert.

The victory denied van der Poel a record fourth Tour of Flanders win. Both Pogacar and van der Poel now have three titles in the race, a record shared by six other cyclists in the event's history. The two riders have won six of the last seven editions of the race.

Pogacar has won all three of his races in the 2026 cycling season, including Milan-San Remo in March, giving him victories in both Monument races held so far this year. He has 12 Monument victories in his career, behind only Eddy Merckx's record of 19. The Monuments are the five most prestigious one-day events in men's road cycling.

A victory at the 2026 Paris-Roubaix would make him the fourth man to win all five Monuments, after Merckx, Rik van Looy and Roger de Vlaeminck. He finished second on his Paris-Roubaix debut in 2025. Van der Poel has won the last three editions of that race.