Tadej Pogacar ready for Roubaix title challenge: "I want to do this and I can dream of the 5 monuments"

Tadej Pogacar is present at Paris-Roubaix this year and he is the big star at the start line, despite it featuring all of the top classics riders. The rainbow jersey was at the team presentation this afternoon and talked a bit about his thoughts 24 hours before the start.

In Flanders, the UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader rode a super aggressive race, and through this tactic he eventually managed to crack Mathieu van der Poel and obtain a gap big enough over the remaining rivals to then survive in the run-up to Oudenaarde.

Now, he is at the start of Paris-Roubaix for the first time in his career. "Why not?" This is a great race, one of the most important of the year," Pogacar said in words to Sporza. 

He hopes to be able to achieve the same thing that he did in Flanders, where he has a 100% success rate. "That was a difficult race. We'll see if it's more of the same tomorrow or if it's something nicer".

Pogacar has won Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia, and is one of the very few active riders who is in pursuit of a potential five-monument palmarès. Milano-Sanremo is close but not yet there, and in Roubaix he also carries a lot of potential for victory.

"I want to do this and I can dream of the 5 monuments, but whether that will work out is another matter. I can't rush anything," he acknowledges. "It's going to be a tough day, but I want to feel what cycling has to offer. It's a great opportunity to experience it from the other side."