Tadej Pogačar casually broke the cycling internet this week. The world champion, who had already hinted at a Classics training ride, posted a short video on Instagram of him riding the Arenberg Trench, causing many to lose their minds over the thought of the UAE Team Emirates rider racing Paris-Roubaix in April. The dream was shortlived, however, with a denial that Roubaix was on Pogačar’s programme for this year, although he is thought to have ridden every cobbled sector at the weekend.
As speculated, it does seem like the recon ride was just the 26-year-old teasing his rivals, those who write about cycling (ahem) and his fans at the same time with the video. That’s the kind of guy Pogačar is, doing things for fun, with the knowledge that a video like this would cause chaos, and endless conjecture over the merits of him riding Roubaix, or the lack thereof. It helps that we’re in the pre-show of the cycling season, when not a lot is happening, and a simple Instagram post by the best rider in the world can create this much chaos, but it is all very well thought out.
