Van Aert not impressed by Pogačar’s two-day blast over the Paris–Roubaix cobbles

Pogačar made his Paris–Roubaix debut last year, after keeping the cycling world guessing for a long time over whether he would actually line up in the Hell of the North. On his first appearance, he was able to follow defending champion Mathieu van der Poel deep into the race, but after a crash he ultimately had to admit defeat against the Dutchman. Even so, second place on debut was an excellent result.

That first appearance in 2025 now looks to have marked the beginning of a fixed appointment in the Slovenian’s calendar. There is no doubt that he still wants to win this race badly. The world champion has made no secret of the fact that he wants to complete the full set of five Monuments. But for both Milan–San Remo and Paris–Roubaix, one obstacle remains particularly clear: Mathieu van der Poel.

To give himself the best possible preparation for the French cobbled Monument, the four-time Tour de France winner completed what could only be described as a “small” reconnaissance ride. He did so alongside his Belgian super-domestique Florian Vermeersch. Pogačar wrote on Instagram that it had been two eventful days, the kind that deserve a place in the memory bank.

With Vermeersch, last year’s runner-up has an outstanding ally for this kind of terrain. The Belgian already finished second in Paris–Roubaix back in 2021 and also ended last year inside the top five. On top of that, Vermeersch has already shown excellent form this season, with third place at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and a very strong display in Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne. So could this year’s edition in Roubaix become a battle between the duos of Van der Poel–Philipsen and Pogačar–Vermeersch?

While Pogačar kept the details of his recon ride hidden, his Belgian teammate did not. On Vermeersch’s Strava, it is possible to see that the UAE duo, only a few days after the Slovenian’s Strade Bianche victory, completed a monster ride of 210 kilometres. In doing so, they covered almost the entire Paris–Roubaix route.

Although the pair took things relatively steady on famous sectors such as the Trouée d’Arenberg, the pace was clearly much higher on the later cobbled stretches. Pogačar and Vermeersch, for example, set a KOM on the sector between Cysoing and Bourghelles, a stretch after which only six cobbled obstacles remain.

At the same time, footage from the world champion also showed that the cobbles were wet. That made it a very useful training session, but it may also explain the slightly slower times on the hardest sectors. With such an important spring ahead, the injury-hit team will hardly be eager to risk yet another crash involving one of its leaders.

Rival Wout van Aert, however, said in an interview with Sporza that he was not especially impressed by the Slovenian’s scouting effort. “It is quite normal that they prepare well. We do the same. But it is clear that Pogačar has made it a real target,” he said shortly before stage four of Tirreno–Adriatico. Van der Poel had also seen the images. “It is clear that he has made it one of his goals, but that is no secret either,” said the three-time Roubaix winner.