The first Monument of the 2025 season provided plenty of excitement and spectacle. A thrilling three-way battle between Mathieu van der Poel, Filippo Ganna and Tadej Pogacar created one of the most memorable editions of Milano-Sanremo of all time. Are such battles set to become a running theme of this Spring though?
Throughout the opening near-three months of 2025, there have been consistent rumours of Tadej Pogacar competing on the iconic French cobbles of Paris-Roubaix this year. Equally as consistent has been the response of UAE Team Emirates - XRG, stressing that the decision will be made post-Milano-Sanremo. For example, in a recent interview with Siol, UAE DS Andrej Hauptman said the following when asked about the Roubaix rumours: "First, we have to wait and see how Milano-Sanremo goes, then we will talk about the next races," he stressed.
Pogacar himself has been no stranger to fanning the flames of speculation. In an interview with tennis star Marion Bartoli for RMC, the Rainbow Jersey refused to outright deny his participation. "There is always a chance. We will see. Let's leave it as a surprise. I really love racing. I thought it was too hard for me but when I did the reconnaissance, I saw that I could. If I am fit, maybe I could try. I think the decision will be made after Milano-Sanremo."
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So now, with Milano-Sanremo firmly placed in the rear window, could a final announcement from UAE Team Emirates - XRG, either confirming or denying their leader's start at Paris-Roubaix be imminent? Well after the race itself, Pogacar, who finished 3rd behind the aforementioned Van der Poel and Ganna, refused to give an immediate answer. "I cannot say," he answered to talk of Roubaix. "Flanders? For this yes."
According to UAE boss Joxean Matxin, those that matter already know what the decision will be. "The decision has already been made," Matxin told Relevo recently. "The decision on the sporting side has been made, but the communication has to be done by the team. The rest is simply speculation. The communications team is responsible for this task, and I don't want to get into concepts I shouldn't get into. I have the utmost respect for the communications team."
One thing for certain is that if Pogacar is to start at Paris-Roubaix later this Spring, we can guarantee fireworks and if Milano-Sanremo is anything to go by, potentially an all-time great edition of the French classic.
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- I love listening to Geraint Thomas, he is such a great sportsman.awp26-03-2025
- Liege or Amstel are a little different. Only he knows what really works for him. I'm a bit disappointed that he is not going to focus on any other races potentially until the Dauphine. If you don't have race days in the legs no matter how good you are it generally gives a negative result. I had argued that he knew what works for him the other day but he seems to have maybe a mental block or is still a bit gun shy from last year's crash, which to be honest, was pretty bad. He might be in his last season or two. I hope not because he can still do quite a bit of winning if he gets his head right.awp26-03-2025
- Do you need a tissue since I seem to have offended you with my comment?frieders326-03-2025
- You mean Liege or Amstel or Flech doesn't play to his abilities ? That's a cop out !frieders326-03-2025
- He beat a field of second rate sprinters....yawn!frieders326-03-2025
- He didn't beat any top class sprinters in this race so slow the roll!frieders326-03-2025
- I think, sometimes, women's races are more interesting because of their unpredictability due to their silly mistakes. The most recent ones seem to always involve Demi Vollering against SD Worx. 11% is way too discriminative. Is there no guardrail in EU laws that prevent this sort of discrimination?
KerisVroom26-03-2025 - Good for him but not exactly the most competitive field, though better than what Froome would try ;-) Let’s wait and see if he can keep things up over time.Mistermaumau25-03-2025
- Huh? So when the men’s is boring and the women’s isn’t should they transfer money or how do you suggest to do things. Last I heard, it’s a bunch of mostly ageing chubby men who set the criteria for women’s races (and in most sports it’s still rather like how religions are run). Don’t think the girls are particularly against doing the same races as the men. Anyway, there’s a huge unjustified gap between 11% of and a difference of 11%. Doubt this happens at the Olympics.Mistermaumau25-03-2025
- C’mon, nobody has ever spoken of Ganna in the same breath as those two until a few months ago and he showed how close a thing it can be when he’s on form, nobody can know in advance what form Remco will have, his Olympic form would cause even Tadej problems, and Wout, well, we’ll just have to wait and see but you can’t really write him off in advance.Mistermaumau25-03-2025