"Maybe not next year" - Tadej Pogacar may skip Paris-Roubaix; Gianetti assures return is ineevitable and congratulates Van Aert

UAE Team Emirates - XRG helped Tadej Pogacar to victory on the first two monuments of the season but couldn't pull it off at Paris-Roubaix. The Hell of the North is a race that usually throws riders' plans out the window in its chaos, and that's exactly what the Emirati team had to endure.

The result at the finish line was a second place for the Slovenian, the same as 12 months ago, albeit closer to victory as only a sprint came in the way of a history-making triumph.

“It’s good news for the public, he’ll be back," team manager Mauro Gianetti told L'Équipe. "He has an incredible level, we saw last year that he went close. This year he went even closer. That means that he can win it, but it’s not easy.”

Pogacar, perhaps biased by the exhaustion and disappointment, wasn't so positive on a quick return to the cobbles of Roubaix. “Maybe not next year. I hope I’ve got a few years left in me, so I’ll try my luck again. I can’t wait.”

In Flanders, it looked clear that the early aggressive strategy was to Pogacar's benefit, with the creation of fatigue from as early as possible led to his rivals fading more in the finale in comparison to him. In Roubaix, this was the plan, and was being executed in the first few cobbled sectors overall. Then, he needed a bike change - and a second one, as he had to take a neutral bike at first.

"We are not unhappy. Tadej wasted a lot of energy after his first puncture. The peloton was riding at 60 kilometres per hour ahead of him, getting back at that speed cost a lot of energy," the Swiss manager said to In de Leiderstrui. Mikkel Bjerg revealed there was no radio signal back to the car, and that delayed the support to Pogacar after his bad luck.

"Morgado and Politt were exhausted and could no longer help him after that. Tadej had to change bikes again, and it just went on and on. Exhausting, but everyone had their share of bad luck today," the ever-positive Gianetti added.

The World Champion still had the legs to attack, but not drop the man who would then beat him in the velodrome. "Everyone rode incredibly hard. I think Van Aert was a bit fresher. He could benefit from the fact that Tadej put energy into staying away, which meant Van Aert had more left in the final sprint."

"Tadej was close again and will come back. We don't know when, but we have seen again that if we have a strong team and Tadej doesn't have to take the risks he took today, he can win. We are not disappointed with second place behind a great champion like Van Aert," he admits.

Gianetti praised the Belgian extensively after a year-long pursuit of one of the races of his dreams, providing camaraderie in a difficult moment for his own team.

"Wout works so hard for his victories. He was already in top form at Milan-Sanremo but had some bad luck. At the Tour of Flanders he was good, but perhaps not yet as strong as Mathieu and Tadej. On the flat, however, he was incredible today. He had a week to find his true peak form, and he managed it."

"We would rather have won ourselves, but I'm happy for him, because he deserves this," he admits. "We congratulated him, because he is a very good person and a fantastic cyclist. He practices this sport with so much flair and presence."