UAE DS Gianetti assures "Roubaix is not in the planning" for Tadej Pogacar
Cycling
Mauro Gianetti leads Tadej Pogacar at the UAE Team Emirates - XRG team car throughout most of the year, and this would potentially happen if the World Champion is racing Paris-Roubaix. He didn't give a no, but the Italian cements the claim that the team will not take him to the 'Hell of the North'.
“Roubaix is not in the planning. Tadej was in Belgium to recon the Tour of Flanders. When Tim [Wellens] went to recon Paris-Roubaix the next day, he just went along," Gianetti explained in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws. "He had to train anyway. And it's Tadej: he felt good, Tim started filming him, it was a joke.”
Pogacar and Wellens did a recon of the Tour of Flanders on a Saturday, and Wellens also went to recon the Paris-Roubaix route where Pogacar followed along. A viable option, although it is understandable why it would create big rumours. The two were expected to be joined by António Morgado and Nils Politt, but both had health issues that prevented it.
Many believe that Pogacar will indeed race Roubaix, that it is a choice that's already been made or will be made soon, but Gianetti assures it is not that simple. “You know, it's complicated. Of course it's a race that Tadej loves, it's a dream, but it's also Roubaix: not a race you start without good preparation.” Regardless of how talented the Slovenian is, by no means would he be an overwhelming favourite in a race where Mathieu van der Poel has won the past two editions in Pogacar-esque dominance.
The words of Wellens and DS Fabio Baldato on how well Pogacar rode through the cobbles certainly didn't help contain the assumptions. “It's Tadej, what can I say? The level of cycling is higher than ever and yet he still stands out. But to simply beat Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Jasper Philipsen in Roubaix? We have to be realistic and respectful. I saw Van der Poel cyclocross... In Roubaix there are no climbs to make a difference. It would be very difficult," he concluded.
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It’s cool down time for @TamauPogi at the #UAETour 😅
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) February 18, 2025
Tadej produced a great ride to sit briefly in the day’s hot seat, with our two-time champion placing third in the preliminary results up to this point ⏱️
We’ll see how things shake down come the end of the stage 🔜 #WeAreUAE pic.twitter.com/bieBI1mLFl
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- Powless just got “better” at 28, Rog hasn’t gotten worse at 35, GT only really started getting going in GT late twenties. Give the guy a chance, he’s not even been let off the leash yet, remember what Jonas achieved GT wise since being given leader status.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Jorgenson turns 26 this year, he won't get much bettervappaxbipmv02-04-2025
- i completely agree. wouter has been through a meat grinder. he’s such a class act, a man of such character that he would never complain or make excuses, that’s why it’s so infuriating to hear him spoken about as if he was failing, choking, or in any way not fulfilling what’s expected of him. i get it, he’s a PRO, so part of what he gets paid for is to be a target for anyone with an opinion. fair enough. MY opinion is that he needs TIME to overcome a pile of injuries. i hope he gets there, because he deserves a pile of wins.OCexile02-04-2025
- I just went through the list of events in his recent riding history listed in another article (so not including his very expensive legal affair and any potential trouble at home) and it’s a half miracle he’s still riding at all. He's outfallen Roglič for sure, who always came away RELATIVELY unharmed.Mistermaumau02-04-2025
- ugh. slice and dice this any way you like. if you’re one of the belgians TRYING to believe wout is going to be in the fight at de ronde and roubaix, this is an ice cold dose of reality. my opinion is that nobody — ESPECIALLY his own team — should have been fanning any expectations of wout at this point after what he’s endured.OCexile02-04-2025
- I guess when you’re high, you don’t (need to) focus on anything ;-)Mistermaumau02-04-2025
- True but things also change, Primoz will get older, Remco crashes, MJ isn’t peaking yet and people can improve their weaknesses faster than others improve their strengths, cf MVDP climbing, JV TTing.Mistermaumau02-04-2025
- Sorry, yeah doesn’t look great but it seems all the recent context gets completely ignored in order to make a big story out of this. Honestly, did anyone at this point really expect Wout to suddenly have recovered all his missing form? Respect to Powless but he’s no nobody, his 2022-2023 presaged something like this. Yes they messed up but it also nearly worked, impossible to know how good your opponent is going to be in such a situation unkess it’s an in form Pog or MVDP. I’d not see this as a disaster but a really bad call, there are positives, they distanced a very strong 2nd group (Mads might be saving himself though) and Wout was very close to a place he’s not heen in a long time. I’d call that progress. Only a few meters would have led to completely different headlines. Why make everything so boack and white? Wout obviously understands and it is in part everyone putting all that pressure on him that led to him making a bad call. That said, had he let his mates go for the win (no guarantee either) héd have received different criticism.Mistermaumau02-04-2025
- Pogi is just had 9 days of racing.
James2631802-04-2025 - I’d advise doing brain scans during max efforts, you never know, he may be having micro blackouts without realising it at the time and with a crash you tend not to remember it after either. Like when you nod off a split second while driving, or realise you can’t remember any details from the last few km.Mistermaumau02-04-2025