“He’s so bored that he says: ‘I’ll go and ride Roubaix because I want a challenge’” - Tour de France dominance has become too easy for Tadej Pogacar claims Arnaud Demare

The question around Tadej Pogacar is no longer just how much he wins, but what is left to challenge him.

In the days following Paris-Roubaix 2026, that debate has taken on a different edge, with former French sprinter Arnaud Demare offering a blunt assessment of the Slovenian’s dominance and the motivations behind his increasingly varied race programme.

Speaking on RMC Sport, Demare did not attempt to soften his view of where Pogacar now sits within the sport.

“Yes I think Pogacar is the best cyclist in history. The guy is so bored that he says to himself: ‘I’ll go and ride Roubaix because I want a challenge’. He needs to challenge himself. At a certain point, he gets bored. He comes to Roubaix knowing he can’t win.”

That framing places Paris-Roubaix in a very specific role within Pogacar’s calendar. Rather than being a realistic target in the same way as the Grand Tours or Ardennes Classics, it becomes something closer to a self-imposed test. A race chosen not because it suits him, but because it does not.

His two appearances so far have both ended in second place, including another near miss in 2026, reinforcing the idea that even in defeat, the performance remains exceptional. For Demare, that only strengthens the argument. Pogacar is not simply winning the races that fit him. He is actively searching for the ones that do not. “What he’s doing is already huge and at some point, he will tick it off.”

That same dominance, however, comes with consequences for the sport itself.

Demare points specifically to the Tour de France, where Pogacar’s control of the race can remove uncertainty before it has time to develop. “The Tour is starting to become difficult to watch, but at Roubaix everyone wanted to see what would happen. Would he win? It’s brave. He has the will to come, he’s not afraid.”

It is not simply a question of results, but of how those results are achieved. The image Demare describes is one of ease. A rider capable of letting the race unfold, then reasserting control without apparent strain. “He knows it comes easy to him. In the Tour de France, he even lets the break go and you think we won’t come back. So you position yourself for the climb to attack, you’re at full gas, and he’s chatting, he’s relaxed. That’s when you realise you’re not going to last long. He’s just so strong.”

For those racing against him, the impact is not abstract.

Demare’s view reflects a reality often hinted at within the peloton but rarely stated so directly. When Pogacar is present, expectations shift. “He’s so strong that he’s strong at everything. In the sprint, he got beaten by Van Aert at Paris-Roubaix. He lacks the punch of a sprinter, if you can even say he lacks that…”

Even that perceived limitation is relative. Across stage races and one-day events, Pogacar’s range continues to stretch beyond traditional boundaries, leaving fewer and fewer opportunities for others to impose themselves. “If I was in the place of the puncheurs and climbers, it would be frustrating. I was winning in other races, but when he’s there, you race for second place.”

What ultimately separates Pogacar, in Demare’s view, is not just his level, but his direction. “Pogacar is a legend and he wants to keep writing that legend. He wants to write a story that no one has written.”

That ambition reframes even the races he does not win. Paris-Roubaix, with its unpredictability and resistance to control, becomes part of a broader project. Not simply to add victories, but to test the limits of what is possible within modern cycling.

For now, it remains one of the few races that still pushes back. But as Demare’s assessment suggests, even that may only be temporary.