Tom Boonen is a four-time winner of Paris-Roubaix, and already within modern cycling. He's one of the most important figures in the cobbles of northern France and also one who knows them best, and he suggests that Tadej Pogacar definitely has the potential to thrive over the French monument.
“That you have to be heavy to ride fast over cobblestones is a story that has taken on a life of its own. But it's nonsense. You just have to be strong. Often big riders are also strong. They have a little more power on the flat. But Pogačar can certainly also kick the necessary wattages to be good in Roubaix," Tom Boonen said of Pogacar in the Wielerclub Wattage.
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“In the youth group, all the good riders rode all the classics. Then I saw that good riders can also ride well on cobblestones. Once on the track in Roubaix I was beaten by Thomas Voeckler in the sprint for second place and in the U23 I came fourth in 2001 in an edition that was won by Yaroslav Popovych. A few years later, he competed for the overall win in the Giro.”
Pogacar has recently won the Tour of Flanders, making it three out of five monuments that he's already conquered. An important achievement, but also one that launched the 24-year old into a very plausible possibility of being the first rider in decades to win all. Pogacar does not have much experience over this terrain - which differs from Flanders where he can make the difference on the climbs - but he's shown at the Tour de France last year to ride strongly over them, taking time on the competition on that day.
A lot has changed since Boonen retired from cycling back in 2017, as he reports on technological evolution which sees the riders race more efficiently over the terrain. “Wider tubes (of 30 millimeters, ed.) are now being used. As a result, there is less impact force in the bicycle and the weight is less important.”
Although Pogacar is unlikely to race Roubaix this year he has manifested interest in the race, and it could be part of his plans in the long-term as he looks to continue making history in cycling. “You cannot compare that race with these races. I once did Paris-Roubaix as a junior and I can't imagine how tough it must be as an elite. You experience a completely different kind of pain. The suffering on the cobblestones is really painful," Pogacar recently said.
"When you climb on cobblestones, it is different. To win that competition, I also have to gain some kilos. It's going to be tough. At the moment I think I'm still too light. So let's save Roubaix for the future," he mentioned. The UAE Team Emirates rider is set to focus now on the Ardennes classics before resting up and preparing for the Tour de France.
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- I think that they're not really used to dealing with this type of incident in a cyclocross race, and the situation has been magnified because it was a race for a championship title. It's very unfortunate that the race had to be decided in this way.
santiagobenites07-11-2026 - Seriously why do they keep doing stupid things like this. Its one thing to relegate when the placings are minor, when the action is blatant. But when it is ambiguous, why dont they at least take advice from some higher up to avoid embarrassing themselves. This is similar to the Halland goal when his teammate was clearly offside and interfered in play and VAR gave them the goal. if you dont have evidence you cannot convict. Even for doping they have these rulesabstractengineer07-11-2026
- So all those who went to watch, including all from abroad, waled there, spent nothing? Most places hosting events of the sort manage to make it worthwhile. If it was so obviously fruitless, don’t you think by now they’d have run out of hosting candidates? Why do you think the Tour can command such high prices for departure and arrival locations? If it didn’t bring anything locally they’d have to pay to get authorisation to use cities.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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