"On those bikes he'd pedal 2 km/h faster" - Tom Boonen believes Tadej Pogacar would benefit from a different bike brand

Speaking to the Wielerclub Wattage podcast, former cyclist Tom Boonen has given his opinion on what it means for Tadej Pogacar to ride a Colnago bike in UAE Team Emirates instead of doing it with a Cérvelo, Pinarello or Specialized as they do in Jumbo-Visma , INEOS Grenadiers or Soudal Quick-Step.

The multiple winner of Flanders and Roubaix affirms that the bike that Pogacar uses is not up to the level because it is 'old': "If Tadej Pogacar gets on a Jumbo-Visma, Ineos or Soudal-Quick Step bike tomorrow, the rest won't he'll have no chance. On those bikes he'd pedal 2 km/h faster."

Boonen believes that there is a lot of difference between some brands and others that clearly mark the differences in the race: "With the top 5 manufacturers there is still little contrast, but when you compare those five with the next 10 manufacturers, there is still a difference in quality."

"In fact, Colnago took a dip a while back. It's still an old school bike now and they haven't quite mastered the aerodynamics yet. They're catching up now though," he concluded.

So far Pogacar has had a tremendously successful start to the season, taking a win at the Clásica Jaén Paraiso Interior and three stage wins at the Vuelta a Andalucia, where he also conquered the overall classification. Following that success he's abandoned his initial plan to ride Strade Bianche.

At Paris-Nice he's taken 12 seconds in bonus seconds over the intermediate sprints on the opening two stages of the race and has positioned himself as the big contender to win the overall classification.