Tadej Pogačar is exactly one race away from cycling immortality.
After finally conquering Milano-Sanremo this Saturday, the World Champion has his eyes locked on the ultimate prize. Paris-Roubaix 2026 is next.
If he wins the “Hell of the North” next month, he will complete the ultimate collection. He will own all five of cycling’s Monument races. Only three men in history have ever done that. Eddy Merckx. Rik Van Looy. Roger De Vlaeminck.
Pogačar wants to be the fourth.
His UAE Team Emirates squad has been plotting this exact scenario for months.
“We also put a lot of effort this winter for Roubaix,” Pogačar said. “Of course the shape is good and I will go to Flanders and Roubaix with a strong team. We’ll go for the win in both races.”
He heads to the French cobbles completely stress free. He is riding a massive wave of relief after edging Tom Pidcock by centimeters on the Via Roma.
Winning “La Classicissima” had become an absolute obsession for the 27-year-old. And he pulled it off despite a massive crash just before the Cipressa climb. He joked afterward that he slid across the Italian tarmac “longer than any water slides that I ever did.”
Now that he finally has the Milano-Sanremo trophy, he hinted he might be done with the Italian Riviera.
He called the local traffic “criminal” for cyclists trying to train along the Mediterranean Sea.
“It was a lot of times training going to San Remo and basically you risk your life every training that you do here,” Pogačar admitted to reporters. “It’s quite a relief to finally win it. It’s been many years training here and I will miss it.”
The pressure of the Italian Monument is finally off his shoulders.
“I’m just so happy now in San Remo that whatever comes next is fine and I will not beat my head or anything,” Pogačar added.
The shape is perfect. The team is ready. Bring on the cobbles.