Belgian pundit on Pogacar's chances of winning Flanders and racing Roubaix: "I find it hard to believe that someone would recon those cobbles just for fun"
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar is going to have the spotlight wherever he goes, and this spring he will be in northwestern Europe to tackle the spring classics. After the UAE Tour, he will only race one-day events until June, and a few pundits share their opinion on how he will go over the coming months.
Jeroen Vanbelleghem argued in the Kop over Kop podcast that "Flanders and Roubaix weren’t exciting last year. He (Mathieu van der Poel, ed.) was already gone with an hour and a half to go. That’s why it’s great that Pogacar is racing—he won’t let Van der Poel ride away solo on the Koppenberg".
In 2023 Pogacar won the race, distancing the Dutchman over the climbs, whilst both had previously distanced Wout van Aert earlier on. In 2025, the exact same figures will headline the Flandrien monument and all three riders seem to be on the same position - if nothing dramatic changes.
The Dutch and Belgian pundit scene is fertile with differing opinion, however into the spring it seems like only three names truly matter when it comes to thinking of the victories in the cobbled monuments. In Flanders specifically, the toughness of the race is such that it becomes very hard to imagine any potential surprise winner.
Michel Wuyts said in his own Het Laatste Nieuws podcast that Pogacar is actually the man to beat in Flanders: "He stands head and shoulders above the rest. I don’t think he’s just checking off races; he’s just ultra-hungry and wants to win everything. But at some point, there will be a moment of overconfidence—when he finally hits the wall."
Is it possible that this will happen? In 2024 we did not really see it happen in races that were a prime goal for the Slovenian - Milano-Sanremo being perhaps the exception, but the Italian race proved not to be hard enough to make the difference, and not exactly a difficulty issue for him.
Wuyts furthermore, belives that Pogacar will be racing Paris-Roubaix, after having done a recon earlier this month: "I find it hard to believe that someone would recon those cobbles just for fun. I’m convinced he’s still considering it. I think he’ll make his final decision before the Tour of Flanders. If he does race Roubaix, he’ll likely cut back on the rest of his schedule and skip Flèche Wallonne,"
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We'll see if he will ride Paris-Roubaix but I doubt that. He will have more priority to sweep the Ardennes Week rather than to race Hell of the North.
Agreed, it’s not because he checks it out that it’s for this year. My thinking (which so many here hate so maybe it actually allergises them into thinking the opposite :-)) would be, if already he’s doing recon he’s taking it seriously, if he’s taking it seriously it’s not something he’s going to improvise or squeeze into a thought out schedule at the last minute so yes, he’s considering but no not for this year. That said, he’s impulsive and knows it’s not the easiest for him to win so like with MSR I think by now he will be ready to accept taking advantage of any interesting opportunities for an unexpected win so if e.g. MVDP gets injured or has a bad spring he may just turn up.
Everyone knows he can sweep. But he also likes to prove doubters which is why he may go at Roubaix
Winning Roubaix and the TdF in the same year is another combo he'll absolutely wanna do to bring him closer to Eddy
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- if there is an actual weakness in wout even when completely healthy, it’s that he’s in his head too often. this has been pointed out many times by much more acute observers of cycling than ME, certainly. it may be that he’s been like this since he was a little kid. we are who we are. or that he was shaped by having faced van der poel SOOO many times. mvdp has zero second thoughts. he wastes no time at all on doubt. that has, in the past, led him to do some pretty insane things and make mistakes that wout would never have committed. but it also makes him a killer. you can see wout’s split seconds of doubt and hesitation everywhere in their head to head battles. those hesitations spill over into other races at times like dwars, when doubt creeps in. i believe that currently he is still coming back from physical problems due to injuries, but even when he’s full strength the mental game is an area of potential concern, AND potential improvement.OCexile03-04-2025
- Not only the public, just about every analyst and commentator had been piling it on. Under the circumstances I’d even say he’s showing real character. Not sure likeable Tadej would manage as well during a longer rough patch.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Took a while but we finally have a more nuanced analysis.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- If I remember right, it was those same hungry journalists selling us a different story less than a year ago about the bleak future of Dutch (men’s) cycling with no possible successor for MVDP ;-)Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Good, hopefully Jonas goes also so we get a nice duelvappaxbipmv03-04-2025
- right? i think it’s hungry journalists that fuel this, and i understand the jam they can be in trying to create stories, but you’d hate to think ANYONE is failing to appreciate how RARE someone like van der poel is (or how LUCKY we are to have both mvdp and pog racing at the same time). a little perspective is a good thing…OCexile03-04-2025
- Anyone know how long that 213km ride took? Coz without that the segment speeds don’t reveal anything surprising. If it took him Less than 5h ok but otherwise it was just some interval training for him.Jumpyjohn03-04-2025
- Hinault was even lighter than Pog at 62 kg when he won PR in 1981, beating Roger van Vlaeminck no less (albeit at the fag end of the latter's career), so it can be done.Cooldude03-04-2025
- Having to shoulder too much pressure from the Belgain public too much that he made a tactical mistake. That's what public pressure does to you. Poor Wout! Hopefully, lady luck befalls him soon.
KerisVroom03-04-2025 - If he's very lucky maybe he can podium a Tour one season, I certainly don't believe he can win it, evervappaxbipmv03-04-2025