As every time he enters a race, Tadej Pogacar will be particularly scrutinized this Saturday during Milan-San Remo. Already because his announced duel with Mathieu Van der Poel promises to be explosive, but also because the Italian classic is one of the rare major races missing from the Slovenian runner’s track record. At 25 years old, the winner of the Strade Bianche two weeks ago already has a well-stocked trophy cabinet, including two Tours de France and five Monuments already gleaned. But he does not intend to stop there, as specified in an interview published in L’Équipe this Saturday.
“I’m at a point now where I aspire to be the best. I want to be the best in history,” he said, before detailing his future goals. If Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix are the two Monuments still eluding him, Pogacar still places the Grande Boucle as a priority. “I want to regain the Tour de France,” specifies the man who had to bow to the domination of Jonas Vingegaard in 2022 and 2023. But once I have three Tours, then everything else will be more important. A third Tour de France, therefore, the three great Tours, San Remo, the World Championship and the Olympic Games. »
Paris-Roubaix not yet on the program
On the other hand, Paris-Roubaix and its cobblestones should not be added to the already very busy program of the leader of UAE Team Emirates for some time. “I have no plans to do Roubaix in the next few years, I would have to change my entire program if I want to go there in good shape,” explains the Slovenian. First of all, I have to finish with my own goals, those challenges that are more “acceptable” for me now, and then I can try to explore, experiment with cobblestones or classics that don’t suit me so well. »
Like Milan-San Remo, which Pogacar played three times without ever securing the podium (12th, 5th and 4th). “The route doesn’t suit me best. It’s almost flat as a pancake, it’s easy until the end, where there, in the Poggio, during these five minutes of effort, you have to produce a lot of raw power, not just have a power-to-weight ratio. pupil. You also have to have a little luck in this race. Everything has to be close to perfect if I want to dream of winning it one day. »
Beaten by Van der Poel and overtaken in the sprint by Filippo Ganna and Wout van Aert last year, Pogacar will try his luck again in the Primavera this Saturday. The race started at 10am.
