"Pogacar needs to learn to hit the abort button": Chris Horner explains why "advanced tactics" are the key to unlocking Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix

After a legendary 2025 season, Tadej Pogacar stands unrivaled at the summit of the sport, having secured a fourth Tour de France title, defended his Rainbow Jersey in Rwanda, and added yet another Il Lombardia. However, despite his absolute dominance, there are two races he has not been able to conquer yet: Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix.

In the latest episode of the Beyond the Coverage podcast, Chris Horner argues that while Pogacar’s dominance is unquestionable, completing cycling's "holy grail" will require a difficult tactical evolution.

"Remember, Tadej Pogacar is who I believe is [the next] Eddy Merckx," Horner began. "But some of you guys complain with me... talking about Eddy Merckx with all of his wins. He's won all the Monuments. He's won, of course, his Tour de France five different times. Tadej Pogacar has only won four Tours de France."

For Horner, the stakes for the 2026 season are clear. "Tadej needs another one. He has a chance to tie the legendary Eddy Merckx with a fifth Tour de France victory at the '26 season."

While July remains the anchor of the season for obvious reasons, Horner argues that simply winning another yellow jersey isn't enough to surpass the Slovenian's previous dominance in 2024 and 2025.

"That won't make this season any better than last year or the year before... so how do you beat that?" Horner asked. The answer lies in the two Monuments missing from Pogacar's palmarès.

"What Tadej Pogacar really wants out of this '26 season... he doesn't need to win Strade Bianche, doesn't have to win Tour of Flanders, doesn't have to win Liège again... But what he wants to win, and what would make this season epic, would be Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix. That would give him all five Monuments. And then everyone wouldn't be able to argue with me so much when I say he is the next Eddy Merckx."

Horner traced the tactical maturity of Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates, arguing there has been a significant change from 2022. "Remember 2022 Tour de France, Stage 11? One of the most epic days of bike racing ever... Tadej Pogacar made mistake after mistake," Horner recalled. "He bonked. He came up one Snickers, one Coke short... But that was just not Tadej Pogacar's fault. That was the directors' fault. That was his teammates' fault."

Since that defeat on the Col du Granon, the team has tightened up. "They have started to clean it up slightly better year after year... Now, they know 'Tactics 101.' Their team has looked after Tadej Pogacar... They've learned to stop attacking early... and then launching the Slovenian for stage win after stage win."

The core of Horner’s critique focused on Milan-San Remo, specifically the decision-making on the Cipressa. He argued that UAE often sticks to a pre-race plan even when the race situation changes, leading to failure.

"When you come into that corner with 27km to go up the Cipressa, if you don't have the scenario that you talked about in the meeting, if you don't have Isaac Del Toro with you... you got to hit the Abort Button," Horner stressed.

"It's complicated when you have talked about a plan for months... and now you got to hit the abort button. Tadej, you have to learn to hit the button."

Horner’s proposed an "Advanced Strategy" for San Remo. "Back the throttle off. Tell Tim Wellens up there to back off... Set the pace up the Cipressa hard so that you can do what? So that you can blow the peloton up into a smaller piece... [but] make it easier for a rider like Isaac Del Toro to get himself into a better position."

This should ensure that, once they reach the Poggio, Pogacar isn't isolated. "Then you have Jhonatan Narváez, Tim Wellens ready to go, and Isaac Del Toro at the front of the peloton ready to pull the Poggio there for Tadej Pogacar so he could go ballistic."

Regarding Paris-Roubaix, where Pogacar finished second last year after hitting the deck, Horner advised patience and relying on rival teams.

"Don't fight them if you don't have the team that can beat Mathieu van der Poel's team at Alpecin," Horner said. "Don't fight Wout van Aert if you don't have a team that can compete against Visma-Lease a Bike. Let those teams do the work."

He also urged Pogacar to avoid early aggression. "Save your legs until you get deeper into the race and then, of course, do the highlight that we don't all expect coming from Tadej Pogačar when he throws in [an] attack. But it has to be vicious."