Tadej Pogačar and his UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad have confirmed he will ride Paris-Roubaix, setting up another Classics clash with Mathieu van der Poel and Filippo Ganna after their Milan-San Remo battle.
Pogačar was due to ride Friday's E3 Saxo Classic and Sunday's Gent-Wevelgem but UAE announced on Wednesday morning that Pogačar "will adjust his calendar to focus on the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix instead, aiming for peak form in those iconic races."
Pogačar's next race is the Tour of Flanders on Sunday 6 April, a week before Paris-Roubaix.
Pogačar sparked speculation that he wanted to ride Paris-Roubaix when he did a surprise recon of the Forest of Arenberg and other cobbled sectors in early February. He also teased about riding in a French radio interview.
"There's a big chance that I'm at the start. I cannot say whether this year or next year, but there is always a chance, so let's see and be a little bit surprised," he told RMC's show Bartoli Time.
Pogačar has won Il Lombardia, the Tour of Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege and will, surely, win Milan-San Remo one day, leaving just Paris-Roubaix to complete the set of Monument Classics.
It is understood that team manager Mauro Gianetti and others in the UAE team are worried about the possibility of Pogačar crashing during Paris-Roubaix and compromising his preparation for the Tour de France, his big goal of 2025. Pogačar's crash at Strade Bianche already raised concerns.
However, it seems that if Pogačar decides he wants to race Paris-Roubaix, then nobody in the team can or will challenge his decision.
Florian Vermeersch will replace Pogačar in the UAE line-up for E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem. Vermeersch was fourth in the recent GP de Denain and sixth in the Bredene Koksijde Classic.
Tim Wellens and Nils Politt will captain UAE in the two Flemish Classics in Pogačar's absence. Both finished in the top ten at the E3 Saxo Classic in the 2024
Gent-Wevelgem is considered more suited to the sprinters and so Sebastian Molano will also be a key rider for UAE on Sunday.
