{"id":597935,"date":"2026-04-11T22:56:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T22:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/597935\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T22:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T22:56:08","slug":"i-can-pull-off-some-kind-of-good-sprint-does-tadej-pogacar-even-need-to-arrive-alone-to-win-paris-roubaix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/597935\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I can pull off some kind of good sprint\u2019 \u2013\u00a0Does Tadej Poga\u010dar even need to arrive alone to win Paris-Roubaix?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How does Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a> win Paris-Roubaix<\/a>? It\u2019s the million dollar question, one that might linger throughout a career that has already expanded to preposterous proportions but that might always feel incomplete without that cobblestone trophy on his mantlepiece.<\/p>\n

The general consensus would dictate that the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider needs to arrive alone in the Roubaix velodrome, but the world champion challenged that assertion as he spoke to the media on the eve of the Hell of the North.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cFor sure, anyone would prefer to come solo in Roubaix, but after such a long race, even in a small group, I can pull off some kind of good sprint, if there\u2019s a good moment,\u201d Poga\u010dar said after the teams presentation in Compi\u00e8gne.<\/p>\n

Article continues below <\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

Unlike the Tour of Flanders<\/a>, where he has turned the Oude Kwaremont into his own personal runway, the flatlands of the Hell of the North offer comparatively little opportunity to burn rivals off his wheel. Poga\u010dar made a sensational debut in Roubaix last year, the multiple Tour de France winner riding away with two-time winner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), who became a three-time winner when Poga\u010dar misjudged a corner and allowed him to solo towards the velodrome.<\/p>\n

For all his strength, the prospect of dropping Van der Poel on flat cobbles \u2013 very much the Dutchman\u2019s home terrain \u2013 remains a tall order. And the prospect of out-sprinting him \u2013 or even the likes of Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) \u2013 an even taller order.<\/p>\n

But Poga\u010dar defended his sprint on several occasions, clearly challenging the pre-race narrative that has been building.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you go in the sprint after such a long race, there\u2019s so much fatigue from the race before that anything can happen in the sprint,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n

The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

There is ample evidence to support Poga\u010dar\u2019s theory. Van der Poel famously lost the 2021 Tour of Flanders in a two-up sprint against Kasper Asgreen, a massive shock at the time. It actually happened twice in the same year, as Van der Poel went to the Roubaix velodrome with Sonny Colbrelli and Florian Vermeersch, and finished third.<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar himself has mustered strong sprints towards the end of hard races on a number of occasions, not least last month when he pipped Tom Pidcock \u2013 who has outsprinted the likes of Van Aert to win Classics \u2013 to the line at Milan-San Remo. Poga\u010dar\u2019s record against Van der Poel in big Classics is less convincing. He was third behind Van Aert and Van der Poel at the 2023 E3 Classic, while at the 2025 Milan-San Remo he was third behind Van der Poel and Filippo Ganna.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope many things are possible tomorrow, but yeah, dropping Mathieu is going to be a hard one, but I will try,\u201d Poga\u010dar said.<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, a solo is almost guaranteed until the last moment,\u201d he added, knowing the feeling well. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of trembling if you come with someone else to the velodrome for victory. I can imagine it\u2019s something totally different.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t have a lot of track experience, but it’s already like a dream scenario to come to the velodrome in the winning move.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar\u2019s runner-up finish last year, followed by his Milan-San Remo breakthrough last month, have brought the Slovenian to the cusp of becoming only the fourth rider in history to win all five Monument Classics during their career. Only Paris-Roubaix stands between him and cycling immortality alongside the great Belgians Eddy Merckx, Rik Van Looy, and Roger De Vlaeminck.<\/p>\n

But this narrative has apparently not landed with Poga\u010dar himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, honestly, I don’t even know who’s in that club,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuddenly everybody talks about some sort of club, but yeah, it\u2019s a Monument, we go for the win, like we do in any race we start. We didn’t succeed here yet, so for us it would be amazing if we can win it one day, but we don’t sit on the bus or eat dinner and talk about some club.\u201d<\/p>\n

In any case, wherever it leaves him in the pantheon of cycling greats, Poga\u010dar is all-in to cross that finish line first inside the Roubaix velodrome.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter last year, second place gave me a big boost in confidence that I could fight for victory in the next years, so I\u2019m here tomorrow to try for victory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot much has changed since last year. I mean, the equipment we change a bit, but the rest I think is all the same. There’s a bit more experience from my side. But the motivation is the same, and the hunger for victory is there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Get unlimited access to our unrivalled 2026 Spring Classics coverage with a Cyclingnews subscription. We’ll bring you breaking news, reports, and analysis from some of the biggest races on the calendar, including Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders. Find out more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How does Tadej Poga\u010dar win Paris-Roubaix? It\u2019s the million dollar question, one that might linger throughout a career…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-597935","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}