"There is no question... Tadej Pogacar is going to ride Paris-Roubaix" - Experts convinced by lack of outright denial from UAE
Cycling
The will he, won't he dynamic surround Tadej Pogacar's involvement at Paris-Roubaix in 2025 remains one of the hottest topics in the sport after the Slovenian sent the cycling world into a frenzy when video emerged of him training on the cobbles and in the Arenberg Forest. Although neither Pogacar nor UAE Team Emirates - XRG have confirmed the world champ's start in 2025, some believe the lack of an outright denial can only mean one thing.
"For a lot of people it is a question mark, but for me, it is not a question mark. The cycling world doesn't know yet, but it's certainly not a question mark for me after Joxean Matxin's statements; Pogacar is just going to ride Paris-Roubaix," predicts Eurosport expert Jan Hermsen confidently on the latest episode of the Kop over Kop podcast. "How will he do there? I am curious about that. They have a programme up to a certain point and after that they will see if he will ride. No no has been said and if you don't say no, he's just going to ride."
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Hermsen co-host on the podcast, Bobbie Traksel is also in agreement that Pogacar will start, although a little less certain in his belief. "Surely it would be cool if he will ride Paris-Roubaix. It also depends on what he performed before that. If it's not quite super at first, he won't ride. Then he will try to win the Amstel Gold Race, the Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège," Traksel muses. "If Pogacar is going to ride Roubaix, then he won't ride those other races. I think he will then say this is the right time to launch that he is going to the Vuelta."
As touched upon in previous articles on the topic, the rumours and speculation regarding Pogacar's Paris-Roubaix involvement is likely to be something that runs and runs, right up until the day UAE Team Emirates - XRG officially confirms their lineup for the race, or maybe even up until the race itself. Only time will tell if the Slovenian will be there at the start or not.
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- I believe Mathieu rather gets beaten by a stronger rider than one who raced smarter. That is why he wanted to team up with Pogacar to drop the JV riders and Mads who were not helping in the chase of the first group since they had a teammate up front.JoostMehrtens08-04-2025
- Just shows that LA is not truly repentant. JUSTICE was served. No winner, no second , no third on the podium for those 7 years. No real winners could be determined, ever. Lance got to keep most of his money , he really should can it . He is toxic to cycling.dave08-04-2025
- Tricky one as while I agree Pogi and UAE are simply faster over a long distance which means Visma and MVP need to be as smart with energy use as can, it's also been proven in the past that one way for Pogi to be beaten is relentless attacks, to put him into the red. However that does require a rider to as good as sacrifice themselves for that one move which makes riskHoopoeChai07-04-2025
- Even if not technically against the rules, this is just bad etiquette and frankly I hope the rest of pelaton remembers Arkea don't care about etiquette or honoring tradition which means they shouldn't benifit from it.HoopoeChai07-04-2025
- The other issue is that Mad Petersen and Wout would have let MVDP do most of the work, as he kept showing he was stronger. MVDP did the strategy with the highest likelihood of victory, he just wasn't strong enough.acem8207-04-2025
- Crash did not help, Out of position for first attack did not help, illness did not help, pacing was not the best either. MVDP has never raced to his limits against other riders but this is his characteristics when he cracks, he cracks big time just like his first elite men WC RR. Against Pogi he needed to be optimized and he is notabstractengineer07-04-2025
- Yes, I completely agree! Before going to a doctor, I give my immune system time to react. If a reasonable amount of time passes and I'm not cured, then I go to the doctor. Fortunately, I haven't needed a doctor in years!
maria2024202407-04-2025 - A lot of medicine does nothing more than speed up recovery time 4-5 days instead of 7-8, 10-12 instead of 2 weeks. It is questionable if it’s really a good thing for healthy people to rely on it as it also makes your immune system lazy and less responsive next time round, making you more and more reliant on medication (surprise, surprise). A bit like glasses, the less you succumb to adapting their strength, the slower the deterioration. Unfortunately many bacterial infections are not so easy to fight without help, your body should manage in the end but it can take really long, I once had strong fever for 3 months trying to fight an infection without reducing work or lifestyle (the antibiotics at the beginning didn’t help).Mistermaumau07-04-2025
- In this case, maybe is my fault (my ignorance). Fortunately, my family hasn't been sick for many, many years, so I can't say if doctors in Italy are still old-fashioned. When we catch a cold (very mild, nothing that requires medical attention), we recover completely in about a week. This may have reinforced my belief in the 7-day cure. Thank you so much, MisterMmaria2024202407-04-2025
- I appreciate the No Excuses thing...bobo07-04-2025