"Tadej can win everything" - António Morgado on Pogacar's Roubaix chances and support role in Flanders

António Morgado was once again in the spotlight at the Tour of Flanders, but this time in a different way to last year, when he surprised everyone by finishing in 5th place, the best result by a Portuguese cyclist in the Flemish race's history. In the 2025 edition, the 21-year-old finished in a distant 90th place, but that in no way reflects the race he rode, as he played a key support role for a Tadej Pogacar that needed the team badly against his stacked rivals.

The 'flying moustache' had to be called into service earlier than scheduled, as Tim Wellens and Jhonathan Narvaéz were involved in two crashes and didn't get to work at the front of the peloton, specially when Visma, Alpecin and Lidl-Trek all had men in front when the race opened up tactically.

Morgado, alongside Florian Vermeersch, Mikkel Bjerg and Nils Politt - the latter two he joined on the Top5 last year - would be essential in UAE Team Emirates - XRG's plan to control the gap to the group of Küng, Benoot and Ganna, before Tadej Pogacar's first attack, 58km from the finish line.

Speaking to Portuguese Cycling Magazine, Morgado said: "It was a good day, a positive day. The plan went well and so we're happy," with his usual straight face. "The plan was not to let the main favorites get ahead and at the Oude Kvaremont we launched Tadej's attack." Sure enough, it seems like the plan worked, of course very much because the World Champion was undoubtedly the strongest on the day.

As for the next races, Morgado reinstated that he will be racing Paris-Roubaix for the second time in his career, again joining the Slovenian in search of a monument: "I'm going to do Paris-Roubaix, where I'll have a similar mission to the Tour of Flanders." Asked about the possibility of teammate Tadej Pogacar winning the 'Hell of the North', the Portuguese was clear: "Tadej can win anything, so I hope so."