"What Pogacar is doing is so impressive" - José de Cauwer praises World Champion's commitment to cobbled classics; and the opposite from Evenepoel and Vingegaard

The cobbled classics are one of pro cycling's hardest exercises, not only physically; but mostly because of the battles for positioning and risks that come with having to be in contention for these races with the narrow roads and explosive climbs. Not all Grand Tours can thrive it in, but Tadej Pogacar does, something which earned him praise from Belgian commentator José de Cauwer.

The Sporza commentator is no stranger to hard and direct statements; and after Remco Evenepoel's unusually modest performance at the UAE Tour, he raises the question whether or not Evenepoel is planning on racing the Tour of Flanders later this spring and is focusing his preparation on the classics instead.

"Oh well, first or seventh reserve. Although maybe something changed after the UAE Tour? Maybe his team wants to use him in Flanders after all, or is he pushing himself?" De Cauwer questions on the Belgian news outlet. "Initially, that certainly wasn't the idea. They were going to stick to the plan. But the question is whether that plan has changed after the Tour."

Evenepoel is now setting off to an altitude camp before resuming competition at the Volta a Catalunya, where he is more likely to have good climbing form. Adding the Tour of Flanders to his schedule is a risky tactic. "That shouldn't happen in principle, because then you have no plan and you doubt yourself. I would say no, even if we really want it."

However on the other side of the spectrum there is Tadej Pogacar, who will do nothing but the spring classics all the way up to late April. The Slovenian is going to be racing the Tour of Flanders as a certainty, being the defending champion and man to beat on the Flandrien bergs. He is then following that up with a Paris-Roubaix return.

"I admire Pogacar so much that he wants to do this and that his team allows him to do it. He's coming to Roubaix as a lightweight and winner of the Tour," the Belgian commentator argues. But he is heavily critical of his rivals who are absent, and has made a rather unusual remark on Jonas Vingegaard.

"Ring Trine's (Jonas Vingegaard's partner, ed.) door in Denmark and ask if Jonas can ride Roubaix. She'll tell him he can't go out that day. And not the week before either. What Pogacar is doing is so impressive, but we've even started to consider it normal. He's coming back and wants to win."

Last year the World Champion won after cracking Mathieu van der Poel under a flurry of attacks on the climbs. But this may not happen again this year, he warns. "If Van der Poel doesn't get sick before last year's Tour, Pogacar won't ride him off..."

"With a healthy Van der Poel and a good Van Aert, we're not yet at home in the Tour... A battle could break out."