{"id":615489,"date":"2026-04-18T17:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T17:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/615489\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T17:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T17:32:09","slug":"hes-so-bored-that-he-says-ill-go-and-ride-roubaix-because-i-want-a-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/615489\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cHe\u2019s so bored that he says: \u2018I\u2019ll go and ride Roubaix because I want a challenge\u2019\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\u201cYes I think Pogacar is the best cyclist in history. The guy is so bored that he says to himself: \u2018I\u2019ll go and ride Roubaix because I want a challenge\u2019. He needs to challenge himself. At a certain point, he gets bored. He comes to Roubaix knowing he can\u2019t win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roubaix as the exception, not the normThat framing places Paris-Roubaix<\/a> in a very specific role within Pogacar\u2019s calendar. Rather than being a realistic target in the same way as the Grand Tours or Ardennes Classics, it becomes something closer to a self-imposed test. A race chosen not because it suits him, but because it does not.<\/p>\n

His two appearances so far have both ended in second place, including another near miss in 2026, reinforcing the idea that even in defeat, the performance remains exceptional. For Demare, that only strengthens the argument. Pogacar is not simply winning the races that fit him. He is actively searching for the ones that do not. \u201cWhat he\u2019s doing is already huge and at some point, he will tick it off.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tadej<\/p>\n

Tadej Pogacar ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2026<\/p>\n

A dominance that reshapes the Tour<\/p>\n

That same dominance, however, comes with consequences for the sport itself.<\/p>\n

Demare points specifically to the Tour de France<\/a>, where Pogacar\u2019s control of the race can remove uncertainty before it has time to develop. \u201cThe Tour is starting to become difficult to watch, but at Roubaix everyone wanted to see what would happen. Would he win? It\u2019s brave. He has the will to come, he\u2019s not afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is not simply a question of results, but of how those results are achieved. The image Demare describes is one of ease. A rider capable of letting the race unfold, then reasserting control without apparent strain. \u201cHe knows it comes easy to him. In the Tour de France, he even lets the break go and you think we won\u2019t come back. So you position yourself for the climb to attack, you\u2019re at full gas, and he\u2019s chatting, he\u2019s relaxed. That\u2019s when you realise you\u2019re not going to last long. He\u2019s just so strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou race for second place when he\u2019s there\u201d<\/p>\n

For those racing against him, the impact is not abstract.<\/p>\n

Demare\u2019s view reflects a reality often hinted at within the peloton but rarely stated so directly. When Pogacar is present, expectations shift. \u201cHe\u2019s so strong that he\u2019s strong at everything. In the sprint, he got beaten by Van Aert at Paris-Roubaix. He lacks the punch of a sprinter, if you can even say he lacks that\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Even that perceived limitation is relative. Across stage races and one-day events, Pogacar\u2019s range continues to stretch beyond traditional boundaries, leaving fewer and fewer opportunities for others to impose themselves. \u201cIf I was in the place of the puncheurs and climbers, it would be frustrating. I was winning in other races, but when he\u2019s there, you race for second place.\u201d<\/p>\n

A career built on rewriting limits<\/p>\n

What ultimately separates Pogacar, in Demare\u2019s view, is not just his level, but his direction. \u201cPogacar is a legend and he wants to keep writing that legend. He wants to write a story that no one has written.\u201d<\/p>\n

That ambition reframes even the races he does not win. Paris-Roubaix, with its unpredictability and resistance to control, becomes part of a broader project. Not simply to add victories, but to test the limits of what is possible within modern cycling.<\/p>\n

For now, it remains one of the few races that still pushes back. But as Demare\u2019s assessment suggests, even that may only be temporary.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cYes I think Pogacar is the best cyclist in history. The guy is so bored that he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[298806,64,63,784,165754,85,6494,2845],"class_list":{"0":"post-615489","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-arnaud-demare","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-cycling","12":"tag-paris-roubaix","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-tadej-pogacar","15":"tag-tour-de-france"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615489","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=615489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}