Mathieu van der Poel not worried by Tadej Pogacar Paris-Roubaix rumours: "I don't lose any sleep over it"
Cycling
Mathieu van der Poel has been the king of the cobbles at Paris-Roubaix over recent years, taking the Monument win in 2023 and 2024. With Tadej Pogacar posting videos of himself in the Arenberg Forest and reconning the cobbles though, could Van der Poel's crown be under serious threat from the current world champion in 2025?
The cycling rumour mill has been in overdrive ever since the videos of Pogacar training on the iconic Paris-Roubaix cobbles emerged. The UAE Team Emirates - XRG has made no secret of his desire to win every race available and although he's yet to try and win the 'Hell of the North', it does only seem a matter of time before we see Pogacar at the startline of Paris-Roubaix. There is yet to be any official confirmation that 2025 will be the year for Pogacar, but regardless, at a press conference announcing his road racing plans for the coming year, Van der Poel was asked about the potential threat from the three-time Tour de France winner.
"I don't know what his plans are for Roubaix," admits the leader of the Alpecin-Deceuninck team and back to back Paris-Roubaix winner, Van der Poel. "If he joins us like in the Tour of Flanders, he will be a tough opponent. But I don't lose any sleep over it."
As seen in the past though, including at the 2022 Tour of Flanders, Van der Poel has already shown he is capable of beating Pogacar in a head-to-head battle. "The Tour of Flanders has already shown that you have to be 110 percent to beat him," the Dutchman analyses. "I had good legs, but he still dropped me on the Oude Kwaremont. But the more good riders at the start, the better, because then the race will fall into place."
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Legendary moments of the 2024 cycling season: the world champion, Mathieu van der Poel attacks on the cobbled sector of Orchies at 60 km/h with 60 km to go. 🔥 He wins Paris-Roubaix by 3 minutes on the 2nd place. Brutal.pic.twitter.com/OG9knZJAJO
— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) December 16, 2024
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- Dominant win??? 13 seconds over Piddie is not dominant.abstractengineer15-03-2025
- I mean the yellow jersey group of GC guys, like Jorgensen and Almeida.Ride197415-03-2025
- Maybe he needs to pull a Stuyven and attack at the bottom of the descent, but he's Pogacar, and they won't be looking at each other as he tries to get away. Sagan never won the race, maybe Pogacar will win it some day. Who knows.RidesHills15-03-2025
- Congratulations to Ayuso, this is a great win. The person who interests me more is Pidcock, who is racking up a fabulous set of podiums this season. The wins are good, but these second and third places are really interesting. Strade Bianchi and today's queen stage and a sprint against van der Poel? Pidcock is looking like the guy he was imagined to be. I did not expect this to happen when he changed to a smaller team, and it's fun to be proven wrong.RidesHills15-03-2025
- Also have to see how much marketing and publicity (ie success) both are responsible for, Can’t be the organisers sole responsibility.Mistermaumau15-03-2025
- ? MP is more than just a sprinter. Won a Vuelta stage with 2 such climbs, did a top ten in last years’ TdF Stage 1 and more. GC riders Storer, Martinez and Lipowitz arrived before and he was still beaten by Champoussin on the line, did they make corrections since you looked or you saw what is still showing?Mistermaumau15-03-2025
- So sad, so easy to prevent.Jumpyjohn15-03-2025
- What in this dripping planet is going on in Mads Pedersen's mind? Mattias Skjelmose crashes out and in the next 5 minutes sprinter Mads decides he's a GC rider and finishes first in the group of GC favorites at the top of the final climb of 10k at 7%! Was that a typo in the results list?Ride197415-03-2025
- Another completely useless piece of road furniture strikes again.
santiagobenites15-03-2025 - I wonder if UCI or broadcast's right licensing body actually foot the bill. Or do they act like IOC reaping the rewards and let the hosting country takes the loss?
KerisVroom15-03-2025