Greg Van Avermaet: Having Pogačar at Roubaix could be an advantage for Van der Poel 🤜 🤛
The former race winner gives us an exclusive interview on how the dynamic could work between the key favourites
Dear Diary,
The clocks have gone forward an hour. And I hate it.
In better news, it’s Gent-Wevelgem today, and I’ll be at the start and finish of the men’s and women’s races. Before that, here’s an exclusive interview with former Paris-Roubaix winner and 2016 Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet. 🇧🇪
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Daniel 🫶
Former Paris-Roubaix winner Greg Van Avermaet is thrilled to see Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar tackle the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix and believes that key rival Mathieu van der Poel can leverage the Slovenian’s presence as an advantage in the race.
After weeks of speculation, Pogačar and his UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad revealed their plans to target Paris-Roubaix earlier this week. The Slovenian is a Tour of Flanders winner and will again aim for the Belgian Monument this spring.
However, the addition of Paris-Roubaix has created a new narrative during this season’s Classics. Pogačar and Van der Poel faced off in Milan-San Remo earlier this month, with the Alpecin rider emerging victorious after a memorable duel on the Cipressa and Poggio. They will clash again in Flanders, with the Dutchman entering the race as the defending champion, but their rivalry on the cobbles of Roubaix is perhaps the most mouth-watering prospect.
“I don't know if Tadej will win, but I think he will get close. I think he’s going to be, for sure, a top-five kind of rider in Roubaix, in my opinion,” Van Avermaet told us this weekend when we caught up with him in Belgium.
“So I think if everything goes well, he can even win. But yeah, it depends. If you see how good Mathieu is riding now, and he's a cobbles specialist, if he keeps up this level, I think it will be hard to win for Tadej, but I think he’s certainly a contender. I think it's just great to see a rider like him, a Tour de France winner, coming to Paris-Roubaix. I think we’ve not had this in many years,” the former Olympic champion told us.