Tadej Pogacar: "I’m under no illusions about the cobbles"

Tadej Pogacar's debut at the Tour des Flandres has been one of the talking points of the season so far and it is set to take place this weekend. As the UAE Team Emirates rider makes his first appearance of the year in the cobbles tomorrow at Dwars door Vlaanderen, he has talked about his expectations.

"I’ve really been looking forward to coming to Flanders. The history and passion for cycling in Belgium is unique and I can’t wait to be a part of it. The shape is good and hopefully we can be near the front, but I’m under no illusions about the cobbles: I know this is a different kind of racing than normal. But I’ll try to soak it all in and enjoy as much as possible," Pogacar said in a pre-race communique.

With a Tour des Flandres debut in sight, the young Slovenian mega-talent will be racking in some experience for the future, but is not to discard as the Flandrien bergs are set to have a massive important in the second monument of the season. Tomorrow though, he will be looking to get used to the racing in Belgium: "My teammate Matteo Trentin knows these Classics races as well as anyone, so we’ll look to his experience in the team for sure. It’s a bit of a step into the unknown but one I’m very excited for."

On paper, team leader on the road will be the experienced Matteo Trentin who has returned to his winning ways in the cobbles earlier this month at Le Samyn: "I think Tadej can also perform well here, it’s a different style of racing but he can adapt well," the Italian said. It’s a pleasure to ride with him and I have no doubt he’ll be strong. I believe we have a group that’s capable of doing good things. Hopefully we can get as many of our guys as possible deep into the final, then anything is possible. I’m still coming back to top shape after the crash but I’m optimistic for Flanders. I know the race well and that counts for a lot in the Classics,"

UAE Team Emirates for Dwars door Vlaanderen: Tadej Pogacar, Matteo Trentin, Mikkel Bjerg, Vegard Stake Laengen, Rui Oliveira and Oliviero Troia.