"The most important thing is that we help each other win": Pogacar's ally doesn't swear loyalty before Paris-Roubaix

It’s now official: Tadej Pogacar will return to Paris–Roubaix next year. The Slovenian will make the second attempt of his career at the "Hell of the North". Mathieu van der Poel, winner of the last three editions, is also expected to return to defend his throne. Therefore it won’t be easy for the UAE Team Emirates - XRG star, who will even have to keep an eye on his own teammates.

Florian Vermeersch is one of the world’s best at Paris–Roubaix. In 2025 he finished fifth, and he wasn’t even UAE’s leader, with Pogacar taking second in the velodrome. And on the muddy cobbles of 2021, he finished runner-up behind Sonny Colbrelli, beating even Van der Poel on the velodrome.

Then logically, you might expect the Belgian, the current gravel world champion, to be Pogacar’s key ally in pursuit of a first Roubaix triumph. But that must not be quite truth as Vermeersch indicates that his plans include jumping after his own chance, if presented with one.

He made that clear in comments to Sporza. While the objective will be to deliver a win for UAE Team Emirates – XRG, Vermeersch believes the logical call is for both riders to support each other as far as possible, and, when the moment comes, not to block the one best placed to finish the job.

"I think Tadej would also want me to win," Florian Vermeersch said firmly. “I’m certainly not going to stand in his way either. First of all, I don’t have the character or the status for that. I’m not worried that he’ll start there too. But we have a good relationship and I think he would also allow me to win Paris–Roubaix."

"I still believe there will be situations where we can complement each other a lot. The most important thing is that we allow each other to win," he added of their ambitions for arguably the toughest Monument.

Florian Vermeersch didn’t stop there. Beyond Paris–Roubaix, the UAE Belgian outlined new goals for the 2026 season:

"The Classics. I’d love to race Milano–Sanremo this year. It’s one of my priorities. After that, I also want to ride a Grand Tour. It will probably be the Giro d’Italia. I’m really looking forward to it. The Tour is always one of the first races I ask for. But I haven’t focused on that. I’m happy with the Giro, which I’ve never ridden. The most important thing for me is to race a Grand Tour," he concluded.

The Italian Grand Tour will be without his Slovenian teammate who, for now, has only the Tour de France on his agenda when it comes to Grand Tours for 2026. However that doesn't mean that UAE won't shoot for the pink jersey as Joao Almeida returns to finish his business in Italy. In 2023, the Portuguese finished a little over one minute off the overall winner Primoz Roglic. Meanwhile on his debut in 2020, he spent two weeks in Maglia Rosa before finishing fourth overall.

But Almeida's Grand Tour history is also marked by multiple abandons, something the presence of a strong bodyguard in the form of Florian Vermeersch should ideally prevent from happening again.