"What are you going to say to Tadej Pogacar" - Joxean Matxin shares how the World Champion first asked to be in Paris-Roubaix

Joxeán Fernández Matxín, manager of UAE Team Emirates - XRG is currently leading Joao Almeida in the Itzulia Basque Country but, of course, he has one eye on what Tadej Pogacar can do this coming Sunday in Paris-Roubaix. He shares how the World Champion brought the subject forward.

In an interview on Cope's Partidazo, he confirmed that they are looking forward to the third Monument of the season in what will be Pogacar's debut:

"It's exciting, it's an absolutely new experience for a rider who is probably not a Paris-Roubaix profile but who has enough courage to face new challenges and above all not to settle for competing in profiles where he can do the best".

Matxín talked about how it came about that the Slovenian would participate in this year's 'Hell of the North': "When it was planned before the training camp, we talked about it and as we were not going to do the Giro d'Italia it was a year in which we could try it, when you do the Giro it is more complicated because they are camps to be at altitude, it can break the schemes and when you prepare for the pavé you do it with totally different characteristics, much more specific".

"When he tried the pavé this year he told me, in his humility, to see if he had a place in the team to do it and, of course, what are you going to say to Tadej Pogacar". On who is the favorite of the race, he logically points to the winner of the last two editions, Mathieu van der Poel, giving a compelling reason for this:

"I think it's obvious that Van der Poel has to be number one, not just because he won last year, but because he's a much better classics rider than Tadej Pogacar, there's no doubt about that. A rider with much more kilos on the flat can be a much more powerful rider, especially in terms of absolute power".

He also wanted to make it clear that he does not think it is the most dangerous race in the world and that the risk of crashes exists wherever you compete. He also made it very clear that he is going to race on Sunday, even if it rains as planned:

"Honestly, no. It's clear that if you mean that any section can be complicated without you not controlling it... but I also tell you that he fell in Liège and broke his scaphoid because of a rider in front of him and he couldn't do anything. He fell in Strade when he was first and fortunately nothing happened to him. Insecurity and crashes are unfortunately the abc of cycling, but that's the sport, cycling, and you have to accept it as such."