"There's nowhere you can find a weakness" - Sean Kelly on how frustrating it must be to race against Tadej Pogacar
Cycling
In the great career of Sean Kelly, the Irishman has never won the Tour of Flanders - the only race missing for him to have completed the cycling Grand Slam. Now he's watching with excitement the adventures of Slovenian Tadej Pogacar who may have even better chance of winning all five Monuments - that is if he can even compete at the Paris-Roubaix this Sunday.
"Back through the last 30 years, you can look back at the guys who were good three-week stage race riders, and with 95 or even 100% of them, there were always places where they were not maybe the best," Kelly writes in his column on Cyclingnews. Like in the times of Bernard Hinault, say, there were climbers that he couldn't match in the mountains."
"But with Pogacar, there's nowhere you can find a weakness - he can time trial against the best, he can ride well on the flat and in the wind, he can ride downhill, he can do every bloody thing. So where can you get an opportunity to put him in a bit of difficulty? The answer is - there isn't such a place," Kelly answers his own question.
If the Slovenian was dominant only in stage races, that would've been one thing... "Now when you come to the Classics, he's coming up against guys who are specialists in the cobbled races like Flanders and he's able to ride these guys off his wheel as well. It's just insane what he's able to do - he's a talent in a class of his own."
"To look at what he did in Flanders, what first impressed me, even before his final attack was the way he was putting in all those moves, putting everybody on the limit and never getting to the limit himself. He took so much time on the guys who were dangling out front, in a couple of hundred metres he could take back 15-20 seconds, just like that. He was controlling what was out in front and making life so difficult for the guys that were with him."
"But when you got into the real important points of the race, it was always going to be Pogacar against Mathieu van der Poel and like I said last week, Van der Poel was bound to be in difficulty to match him on the Oude Kwaremont. It comes at such a late point and it's so long, if you start to suffer a little bit, that's where Pog's going to kick you. And it just turned out like that."
Paris-Roubaix
This Sunday will bring the biggest challenge for Tadej Pogacar until now. While at Tour of Flanders the steep climbs help him against cobble specialists, the Paris-Roubaix is a basically flat race. Slipstream will be the Slovenian's arch-enemy.
"Paris-Roubaix is another race compared to Flanders, though, it's a very different one," he highlights. "I think it'll be harder for him to make a difference, too, because on the flat and the cobbles, you have a lot of guys like Van der Poel, and Wout van Aert who'll be able to hang on better to his wheel compared to a climb like the Kwaremont, where it was much more difficult."
"But with Pogacar I'm afraid to say too much because we could see him win next Sunday in Roubaix too."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Pogacar has a fine head on his shoulders.Careful investments and a couple of coffee shops sounds like a wonderful way to chill after an intense career.Stay healthy GOAT.
Brucegel14-11-2026 - I live in Maribor.PogiSloFans14-11-2026
- I live in Ljubljana and often go on trips in the surrounding area, where I frequently see young cyclists in 'Pogi Team' jerseys training, either alone or in groups. By simply motivating so many young people to take up cycling, Tadej has already achieved something truly significant.Velijo14-11-2026
- That's an excellent point. It's interesting that Vader came to that realization only after he learned that his contract wasn't going to be renewed.
santiagobenites14-11-2026
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