Tadej Pogačar has welcomed the late addition of Remco Evenepoel to his opposition for the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, admitting on Belgian TV that while he was slightly surprised to see the announcement on April 1 of his debut, rumours had already been pointing to that possibility for months.
The World Champion arrived in Belgium on Thursday evening at the team hotel in Waregem, and quickly appeared on Sporza's Vive le Vélo show, sporting his bleached blonde hair as he took questions from Karl Vannieuwkerke beside teammate Florian Vermeersch.
Of course, it didn't take long for the topic of Evenepoel to crop up, given how Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe has caused quite the storm by hiding and denying for months that Evenepoel would make his first start in the most prestigious Flemish race.
Even when it did finally come out on the morning of Dwars door Vlaanderen, they had to emphasise that it wasn't an April Fool's joke. But Pogačar has somewhat been suspecting it.
"I was a little bit surprised and a little bit not," said Pogačar on Sporza. "I heard some rumours that he wanted to do those races, already a long time ago, but also yesterday was like 1st April, so maybe it was a joke. No, it's good to see him in the race on Sunday."
It's only Pogačar's third race of the season, following his solo exhibition at Strade Bianche and dramatic comeback from a crash to finally win Milan-San Remo for the first time, but he will line up as both the defending champion and the heavy favourite to maintain that 100% record.
"I cannot wait to start on Sunday. The training was good, and preparations went well," said the Slovenian.
"After San Remo, of course, it's a different race, but I had a few days I allowed myself to switch off for these Classics. It was [a hard crash], but I was surprised there were not that many deep wounds, so it was not too much hassle. Pretty non-disturbing injuries."
Pogačar has won his last two appearances in Flanders solo, attacking on Oude Kwaremont on both occasions after repeatedly putting his competitors to the sword. Victory would make him the equal-most successful rider in men's Tour of Flanders history, joining Mathieu van der Poel, Fabian Cancellara, Tom Boonen, Johan Museeuw, Eric Leman, Fiorenzo Magni and Achiel Buysse on three titles.
As has been the case for almost all of his interviews in recent years, Pogačar was asked about how he will maintain his motivation given the frequency with which he wins almost all of cycling's most prestigious races. With just a Paris-Roubaix and Vuelta a España crown separating him from completing the Monument and Grand Tour sets, he knows that the current drive he still maintains won't last forever.
"I don't know, I enjoy the moment. Right now, there are still a few goals I need to achieve and a few challenges that are waiting for me," said Pogačar.
"But yeah, I'm ready that motivation will also go downwards a bit in the next few years, probably. We'll have to find something to motivate me later on."
UAE Team Emirates-XRG announced Pogačar's supporting cast for Sunday's race on Friday morning, featuring Vermeersch, Nils Politt, Mikkel Bjerg, Benoît Cosnefroy, Antonio Morgado, and Rui Oliveira.
His main rivals will once again be Van der Poel, Wout van Aert, and Mads Pedersen, with the added wildcard of Evenepoel. In preparation for taking them on, Pogačar will recon the course on Friday morning before speaking at a press conference in Waregem.
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