Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar targets Paris Roubaix s cobbled hell

PARIS – Three-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar will race the notorious Paris-Roubaix – known as the “Hell of the North” for its treacherous cobbled mining roads – for the first time, his team UAE announced on March 26.

Of the five big one-day races known as “Monuments”, Paris-Roubaix is the least suited to the Slovenian’s slender frame and adding that title would confirm his growing status as one of the all-time cycling greats.

He will be the first reigning Tour de France champion to tackle what is often a mudfest since Greg Lemond in 1991 – the American finished 55th.

Cycling legends Bernard Hinault and Eddy Merckx also tried to win the one-day race in 1982 and 1975 respectively, a year after winning the Tour de France.

Neither was successful although Merckx finished second, edged out on the line by Roger De Vlaeminck. However, they both achieved perhaps an even greater feat in landing the two races in the same year, with Merckx doing the double in 1970 and Hinault in 1981.

Victory on April 13 would set Pogacar up nicely to join that elite duo.

He already has seven Monument victories to his credit, including the 2023 Tour of Flanders. Pogacar has also won Il Lombardia each of the last four years and Liege-Bastogne-Liege twice.

“It was initially planned for Tadej Pogacar to participate in both the E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem,” read UAE’s statement.

“However, after discussions with the team, it has been decided that he will adjust his calendar to focus on the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix instead, aiming for peak form in those iconic races.”

The change of plan is a victory for Pogacar, who has said he prefers the one-day races to multi-stage ones, as he had argued to compete in the