"It might become impossible to catch him" - Tadej Pogacar warns of Remco Evenepoel danger for Tour of Flanders

Tadej Pogacar is going to be the mean to beat at the Tour of Flanders following his exhibition of 12 months ago and the form he's been carrying this spring. However, with Remco Evenepoel added into the mix, the World Champion has another threat to worry about on Sunday.

In this afternoon's press conference, some of the main favourites talked openly about their feelings ahead of the race. In Pogacar's case, his weight, something that was quickly asked. "My weight? 66 kilograms this morning," as reported by Sporza.

However like Mathieu van der Poel, Pogacar also claims that Evenepoel's presence might even be helpful to him, because the race may break apart earlier. "From my point of view, it is good to have a rider like Remco on board. He always wants to attack from far out and can ride a great race on Sunday.

"When I watch races on television, I love seeing Remco attack from afar. But when you're riding along yourself and just have a bad moment... Then I like it less. Remco can become an extra stress factor in the race."

The threat of the Evenepoel attack is real. On the climbs only Mathieu van der Poel, on the short ones, might be able to put the Slovenian under pressure. However on the flat roads, the time trial world champion's ability to stay aerodynamic and conduct a solo effort well is threatening to his rivals.

Hence, he attacks usually on flat or ondulating roads, which opens up pandora's box for his rivals who have to close down his moves regardless of the terrain, if they want to win.

"With Remco, you never know. He can attack in the most random places. That means you always have to be ready," Pogacar says, knowing this will add to the tension and effort during the day, under regular conditions. "If you let him lead with a few seconds' advantage, it might become impossible to catch him."

However, he also has to keep an eye on his chasers, who may be able to put on a stronger pursuit, taking into consideration the trend of recent races.

"Teams now seem to realize that they can still organize themselves 60 kilometers from the finish. And that it is better to handle it that way than to bombard each other with attacks. You saw that in Middelkerke - Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen."