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Tadej Pogačar takes on cycling’s most dangerous race Sunday at Paris-Roubaix in the latest, wildest chapter of the never-ending Pogi Show.
Not only is he the first reigning Tour de France champ to even dare line up in Compiègne in more than 30 years — Greg LeMond was the last back in 1991 — he’s not just there to survive. He’s there to win.
Most Tour favorites avoid Roubaix like the plague, but there’s something stirring about seeing Pogačar charging fearlessly into the cobblestone cauldron of the “Hell of the North” with fire in his legs. Bring it!
Also read: Paris-Roubaix weekend guide
Pogačar is a once-in-a-generation force, and his decision to take on the pitfalls and risks of the “Hell of the North” is a testament to his skill, ambition, and love of the game.
In 25 years of covering cycling, I’ve never seen a racer so versatile, so gifted, and so spectacular as the man from Slovenia.
But, I hope he doesn’t win. At least not on Sunday.
Cycling is an endless well of great stories
As a journalist and reporter, I always look for the good yarn. And cycling never fails to deliver.
From Colby Simmons jumping straight from devo to the Tour of Flanders, to Neilson Powless winning against the 3 vs. 1 odds at Dwars door Vlaanderen, to Lotte Kopecky flexing her muscles at Flanders, this is a sport that keeps giving.
And all that came in the past week.
No rider in a decade has produced more headlines and spilled more (virtual) ink than Pogačar. He’s a journalist’s dream and a nightmare for anyone trying to beat him.
PARIS-ROUBAIX (257.7 km) | #ParisRoubaix
Compiegne / 11:15 (km 0)
Roubaix / 17:06 – 17:41ODDS (€)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ van Aert
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ MVDP
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Asgreen, M.Pedersen, P.Sagan
⭐️⭐️ Senechal, Lampaert, Stuyven, Politt
⭐️ large group (van Baarle, Valgren, Küng, Mohoric & co.) pic.twitter.com/RK16Fuks4x— ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) October 2, 2021
Pogačar brings an irresistible mix of an electric racing style, versatility, and a happy-go-lucky, Boy Scout charm. He’s that kid in all of us, racing his banana-seat, Sting-Ray bike in the street who won on the Champs-Élysées, the Little Leaguer who made it to the Major Leagues.
And right now, we’re watching Pogačar at the absolute peak of his powers.
What he did at Flanders still blows my mind. What he uncorked at Milan-San Remo? Ditto. What he pulled off at the world championships in Zürich? Unreal.
So yes, like everyone else, I expect to have my mind blown again Sunday.
Leaving part of the Pogačar legend unwritten
Will he win? Despite the rigors of the cobbles, his chances are very good. Odds-makers put him at 4-to-1, with only Mathieu van der Poel seeing better odds.
UAE is bringing a powerhouse squad to support him. With Nils Politt, Tim Wellens, Florian Vermeersch, all these could win Roubaix on their own. But they’ll be there riding for Pogi.
Also read: Here’s UAE’s dream team for Roubaix
If his recent numbers are any indication, he’ll be ripping across the most treacherous sectors at warp speed. Once he opens the throttle, he won’t need mountains to drop everyone.
The only way to beat him is to take him to the line in the velodrome. Favorites like Van der Poel, Mads Pedersen, Filippo Ganna, and Wout van Aert might have a shot there. After six hours of hell, few will have anything left.
Hyped about Paris-Roubaix 2025:
✅55.3 km of cobbles
✅30 cobbled sectors
✅strong wind expected
✅☔️maybe some rain
✅stongest riders participating
✅only 3 days to go— Cycling Statistics (@StatsOnCycling) April 10, 2025
So why don’t I want Pogačar to win?
Because I want part of the Pogi legend to remain unwritten.
He’s already won nearly every race he’s ever targeted. The only major ones left are Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix, and the Vuelta a España.
If he keeps checking off these bucket-list races, where does the story go from there?
Sure, he’ll keep thrilling us with spectacular attacks and gravity-defying tactics, but there’s something about the quest for greatness that gives racing its edge.
If he loses that means he will come back
Chasing history elevates the drama. That’s what pulls us in.
He didn’t win San Remo this year, and that’s a gift for next year’s race. Now we’ll tune in wondering: What can he do this time?
Looking ahead, he’ll probably win the Vuelta if he shows up. The Critérium du Dauphiné will also likely fall in June. Then it’s off to another yellow jersey at the Tour de France.
No, it’s not becoming routine. Racing never is. And no doubt, it will be thrilling and enthralling to watch him do it. No one lights up a race more than Pogačar.
Also read: Is the pain-to-gain paycheck worth it for Roubaix?
Right now, he’s an unstoppable force.
In 2024, he did the unthinkable, winning the first Giro-Tour double since Marco Pantani, then became just the third elite male to sweep the Triple Crown. That’s the stuff of legend.
Good luck guys #ParisRoubaix https://t.co/e4Ma2f9O2T pic.twitter.com/EkFQ8kYbGL
— Paris-Roubaix (@parisroubaix) April 8, 2025
Pogačar insists he’s not racing for the history books, but insiders say he’s racing everything on the calendar in part to keep things interesting.
Repeating the wash-and-rinse blueprint of early-season races, altitude camps, Dauphiné, and more altitude camps before another Tour bores him to no end.
So an engaged Pogačar is better for everyone.
The unfinished business of joining the men’s five-monument club is the next elusive milestone.
And that means losing Sunday at Paris-Roubaix is, in an odd way, a good thing.
If Pogačar doesn’t win Sunday, that means he will have to come back.
Who doesn’t want to see that?
A risk of ‘Pogi fatigue’
And no, I’m not saying there’s “Pogi fatigue.”
He races with such flair and panache that when he wins, you know it’s going to be a thrill ride. He doesn’t sit on wheels or ride a train to suck up time bonuses. When Pogačar goes, he’s swinging for the fences.
But I also like watching other people win.
From a fan and media perspective, Milan-San Remo was better because he didn’t win. Some people are content with a “good race” regardless of who’s first, when everyone tries their best, and hugs it out at the finish.
Pro racing at its best is raw, and from a storytelling standpoint, we need a little conflict and tension.
To win, you have to turn yourself inside out. That’s when all the warts of human nature — anger, fear, revenge, elation — spill out unfiltered onto the road. And that’s what makes professional cycling such a compelling sport.
Also read: Pogačar on a rampage, sets new KoMs, adds monument
If the Pogi Express continues unbridled, there’s the danger that the peloton starts racing for second.
That’s what happened on the Oude Kwaremont last weekend. When he cracked the favorites on the final stampede, the rest knew it was over. Spectacular? Hell yes, but if he keeps doing that, the race will be over before it begins.
It’s admirable that guys like Van der Poel and Jonas Vingegaard can still challenge him mano-a-mano.
But everyone else in the peloton? They know the brutal reality that under normal conditions, they have no chance.
Of course, just like everyone else on Sunday, Pogačar could puncture, suffer a mechanical, or misplay the tactics.
He proved that he’s mortal with a horrific crash at Strade Bianche, luckily he was able to brush it off with just some cuts and scrapes (and a few thorns as well) and still deliver the win.
Searching for the Hollywood ending
Despite the Pogačar vise-grip on the peloton, many racers and teams will line up Sunday believing that miracles can happen.
In fact, Paris-Roubaix does deliver the one-off Cinderella story every few years. Mathew Hayman and Johan Van Summeren are the latest on the list of ghost riders who defied the favorites to win the Queen of the Classics.
No race is scripted. Anyone can win any race. A rider like Gianni Moscon — if he were racing Sunday — could win if he packs diamonds in his legs. Racing isn’t a popularity contest.
OTD in 2011
Johan Vansummeren took the most significant victory of his career – winning Paris-Roubaix despite a puncture in the final kilometres.
The eminently likeable and charismatic Belgian wrote a brilliant account of the day for The Road Book 2011:https://t.co/reWhY5REVb pic.twitter.com/Gh8qQHeAzc
— The Road Book (@CyclingAlmanack) April 10, 2025
Of course, if Pogačar wins, he deserves it, and the sport will celebrate it.
But if we could script the tear-jerker Hollywood ending, who wouldn’t love to see Van Aert win Paris-Roubaix?
This guy is cycling’s Chicago Cubs. He’s come so close to some of the sport’s biggest prizes, and something always seems to go wrong.
Sure, he’s won Tour stages, the green jersey, San Remo, cyclocross world titles, and worn yellow, but he’s overdue on adding a northern monument to his trophy shelf.
And after all he’s been through with injuries, crashes, and bad luck, what better moment than Roubaix on Sunday?
Now that’s a good story.
