{"id":262820,"date":"2025-11-04T21:27:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/262820\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T21:27:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:27:09","slug":"cross-is-coming-but-never-for-tadej-pogacar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/262820\/","title":{"rendered":"Cross is coming \u2014 but never for Tadej Poga\u010dar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cyclocross is quietly growing beyond its Belgian stronghold, but one rider\u2019s return to the discipline is off the table. Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a>, whose early career included national cyclocross titles, won\u2019t be lining up in the mud this winter \u2014 not because of ability, but because his current (and forever) team won\u2019t allow it.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t forget \u2014 Tadej used to be a cyclocross rider,\u201d Peter Van Den Abeele, a former top-level crosser, said. \u201cThe only reason he doesn\u2019t race is because his team won\u2019t allow it. Otherwise, he\u2019d jump straight back in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeepers does Tadej Poga\u010dar have some mad \u2018cross skills<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar\u2019s brief return to cross in Slovenia in 2021, where he immediately took a win in Ljubljana, reminded fans just how much impact he could have in the sport. His participation would not only boost competition but could bring a global spotlight to cyclocross at a time when the discipline is pushing for growth outside Belgium.<\/p>\n

Tadej Poga\u010dar: \u2018Mathieu van der Poel would lap me in cyclocross\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u2018Cross is\u2026changing<\/p>\n

Cyclocross is also set to gain more influence in road racing. From 2026, results in cross will count toward UCI rankings for road teams, encouraging riders to compete across disciplines. Van Den Abeele notes this could shift the balance for smaller squads, giving riders with cross backgrounds a chance to contribute points in ways that were previously overlooked.<\/p>\n

I mean, let\u2019s be honest, Pogi has done quite well on the gravel roads of Strade Bianche\u2013and sure, he\u2019s had some crashes, but who hasn\u2019t?<\/p>\n

Also, as cool as it would be for the road world champ to race \u2018cross, the bigger question is, why?<\/p>\n

Pogi could probably do a solid individual pursuit, too. Hell, his wheelies are on point so he could snag another rainbow jersey in artistic cycling.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Euro \u2018cross season is in full flight. The regulars (and Thibau Nys) are duking it out with the Exact and Super Prestige races. Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert will eventually show up, you can be sure.<\/p>\n

Despite these changes, the Flemish races remain the crown jewels of the season. The world championships in Li\u00e9vin, fan favourites in Benidorm, and classic races in T\u00e1bor continue to attract huge crowds, but the sport is slowly broadening its horizons.<\/p>\n

For Poga\u010dar, the window may remain closed \u2014 but the potential is undeniable. With cyclocross possibly on the path to Olympic recognition by 2030, one can only wonder if the Slovenian star might one day roll back into the mud. Until then, his focus will stay on the road, leaving the spikes and barriers to the next generation of cross specialists. But with this guy, who knows anymore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cyclocross is quietly growing beyond its Belgian stronghold, but one rider\u2019s return to the discipline is off the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262821,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-262820","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}