The man who discovered Tadej Pogacar on his chances at Roubaix: "I think he can do it, but it's not ideal terrain"
Cycling
As team manager at UAE, Allan Peiper saw Tadej Pogacar rise to the top of cycling about five years ago when he won the Tour de France for the first time. For personal reasons, he stepped down from that position, but as a racing enthusiast he enjoys what the Slovenian shows time and again.
The Australian was in the wider range of favorites at the Tour of Flanders himself, having finished in the top-10 twice in late 80s. Seeing his "For me it's a highlight of course. The Tour of Flanders was the race I couldn't win, I wasn't good enough. And I see him playing here on my terrain. I don't live far from here," he told Sporza.
Peiper saw Pogacar seize his chance to leave Mathieu van der Poel behind. On the penultimate climb it happened. "He had few chances to break it. He had to drop him on the Kwaremont. Otherwise it would have been impossible to win, but he did it."
Allan Peiper himself followed the race from front row. "I saw him at the starting line and I shook his hand. After the Koppenberg I called out to him on a small track. He looked sideways at me, my day was a success."
Peiper accompanied the Slovenian. "He has a heart of gold, he is constantly thinking of other people. Certainly for me, that is a boost in my life. He is never angry, never jealous and takes everything as it comes. He is free to race, you see that on the racing bike."
The Australian ex-rider also looked into his crystal ball. What can Pogacar do in his first participation in Paris-Roubaix? "I think he can do it, but it's not ideal terrain. With his weight and his strength it should be more for Mathieu (van der Poel). Wout (van Aert) will also play a role." Whatever happens next Sunday, Allan Peiper went home happy. "I see my protégé winning, how can it be better?" he laughs.
Just in
Play for FREE! Fantasy Paris-Roubaix
Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter today!
Popular news
Latest comments
- Why? He is being too hard on himself. No sane person will blame him if he stopped there and then.
KerisVroom14-04-2025 - You can find a quick explantion by searching for "finish line camera howtown". The camera only captures the vertical line. The photo that we see is a composite of vertical lines.KerisVroom14-04-2025
- Let us not go off the deep end for a start it us not attempted murder. At most common assault. Country dependent. Yes horrible to see and ob not a real fan of the sport or just a VDP hater. This has been going on for years look at Froome in the TDF and other sports such as football. That is soccer to the North Americans. Let the police do there job and hope the offender gets what is coming to him or even her.paultryan200214-04-2025
- Sure but talk about predictable comments, do we really need those (although this time it was more rambling)? Don’t love the media running after him to hear about it each time though. Adrie isn’t even that well informed about his son’s work, can’t they go interview people who have more interesting comments to provide like maybe his mechanic or masseur or nutritionist or driver,oh yes, they’re probably bound by nda’s, which is why no-one tells Adrie anything of importance, didn’t even know his son was sick before Flanders so some of his comments there turned out pointless.Mistermaumau14-04-2025
- I think with Tadej it’s often a case of his mind’s will being stronger than his racing intelligence, he’s lucky to be strong enough to recover from potential mistakes so knows he never has to worry too much about going past his natural limit but under pressure he makes more misjudgment than the average elite pro. I think Mohorič knows that about him too and possibly saved him from himself.Mistermaumau14-04-2025
- Thanks, strange, I would have thought with digital resolution and light performance these days, you’d see crystal clear high res images like you may have seen if you saw the close up of WVA knee wounds pic taken in-race as he zoomed by. Do you by any chance know what’s special about photo finish tech that leads to this?Mistermaumau14-04-2025
- Not to forget how their star rider is willing to play domestique for sprint stages, a few ladies could learn a lot from this. I was thinking, if either of Tadej or MVDP didn’t exist, the other could have reached Merckx monument level but then again, would they have the same motivation? Is it a coincidence they both have so many already and that the only other two who had more also rode concurrently? The one guy who pays the price of it is WVA who may come away empty handed, the best rider to never win a monument is surely worth an article.Mistermaumau14-04-2025
- So good it never happened, this team with MVDP is one of the reasons cycling hasn’t gone to shyt too much yet, I respect Tadej but I don’t think he’s even given much thought to the who and why of financing in sport and how naïve athletes just get used as little pawns in a bigger game.Mistermaumau14-04-2025
- It was still an incredible debute and winning this race is very much possible for Pogi if gives it a few more years experience. I was wondering if he didn't get good intel from the car and seemed to be trying to attack round the corner or at least apply pressure which it was just not the right place. Maybe the bikes played a part in why he didn't realise himself but I do feel given his stature and being the first ever Paris Roubaix for Poggi, if he needed more support from those around him in knowing the corners that you simply can't take like normal. I remember a gravel lane I took too hard once and it was a gentle turn but if you try to take hard it will throw you. Seems it was pretty common knowledge now for the others in the event but I didn't know and it ended up bloody and bruised all because I wasn't aware of this corner where the normal rules don't apply. I'd suspect similar myself.HoopoeChai14-04-2025
- That's how the finish line camera worksKerisVroom14-04-2025