Tadej Pogacar: "The Tour of Flanders will be one of my big goals"

Tadej Pogacar is one of the most unique talents in cycling and this year he's found his talent in the cobbled classics. Having the Tour de France as his main goal for 2023, his spring will be free to target other races, and he will return to the Tour des Flandres.

“The Tour of Flanders will be one of my big goals for the spring," Pogacar said in an interview with Het Nieuwsblad. In 2022, almost without any preparation, Pogacar participated at the Dwars door Vlaanderen, riding into 10th position. Days later at the Tour des Flandres, he made his presence known with ease.

Pogacar was the main instigator of attacks throughout the races climbers, mainly at the Koppenberg and Oude Kwaremont. Only Mathieu van der Poel could sustain the accelerations of the Slovenian in the bergs, and the duo ended up going into the sprint to battle for the victory.

Eventually, Pogacar finished fourth, frustrated outside the podium, as Dylan van Baarle and Valentin Madouas surged to take second and third as they closed in on the final sprint. However the UAE Team Emirates rider saw the potential to win the Belgian monument, and in 2023 he will return to try and conquer Flandres.

"It was a really beautiful experience and this year Flanders is one of the goals. I think Sanremo and Flanders are two of the hardest races to win for me, even though I was not so far off in both... Sanremo is a long boring race until the coast and then you have just one moment when you need to push the best power. It's one of the hardest to win, that's what makes it so beautiful," he continued. 

"But every year is different, I want to go there as well prepared as possible, and give it a shot. But I'm not expecting to win it [Flanders] on the second go. Maybe I'll have to go there for the rest of my career. But it's not so much about winning, it's just when you can race and be up here, that's a really nice feeling. Flanders is one of the biggest races and has the biggest crowds and the best atmosphere, also the parcours is really special for me with the cobbled climbs. It's chaotic and stressful but I like it," Pogacar concluded.