"It would be great for the sport if he were there" - Jasper Philipsen would welcome battle with Tadej Pogacar at Paris-Roubaix

The prospect of Tadej Pogacar making an appearance on the iconic cobbles of Paris-Roubaix in 2025, has ignited the cycling world since video emerged earlier this week of the UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader reconning the course. Despite the fact Pogacar's presence would undoubtedly make life more difficult for the rest of the race, Jasper Philipsen, who has finished 2nd the last two years, welcomes the prospect.

Philipsen and Pogacar are known to be good friends and were previously teammates at UAE Team Emirates in the 2019 and 2020 seasons. In a recent interview with Wielerflits, the now-Alpecin-Deceuninck star was asked if he believes Pogacar was really just riding the Paris-Roubaix course for training and not in preparation for this Spring, as was the reason given by UAE. "Not entirely," laughs Philipsen. "He's not just going to recon."

As mentioned, despite the extra level of competition Pogacar would give, Philipsen would actually welcome the Slovenian's presence on the startline. "It would be great for the sport if he were there. It's worse for the competition, but that's just the way it is," analyses the Belgian. "I do think his presence will make a big difference. Tadej always races with an open mind, although riders like Mathieu van der Poel have been doing that for a long time. But it certainly makes the tension better."

Barring injury, Philipsen and Pogacar will certainly be alongside each other at the startline of the 2025 Tour de France, both hunting for jersey wins too. Whilst Pogacar has targets set on a 4th Maillot Jaune, for Philipsen he's aiming for a 2nd points classification win. "You never know of course and it is still a long time until the Tour. And at the moment my head is not really in it yet, but normally the plan is to go to the Tour,” he previews.

As for the start of Philipsen's season, that takes place at the UAE Tour. "The only surprise (of his 2025 programme ed.) is perhaps that I will start in the UAE Tour and will already ride the Flemish Opening Weekend with competitive kilometres in my legs. But for the rest my program looks similar,” he says. "Of course we have to wait and see how the UAE Tour will be run. It can be a very tough race, but also a very quiet race, if there is a lot of headwind. I do think it will make a difference, so that I can perform better in the Opening Weekend.”