Tadej Pogačar will be able to take on Paris-Roubaix one day but it will be an “ultimate challenge,” says his friend and former directeur sportif Allan Peiper.
“For sure he’ll be at the start one day,” Peiper predicted, confident that Pogačar can go on to win all five of cycling's monument Classics.
The Flanders-based former pro rider and sports director told Belgian newspaper Dernière Heure that he has remained in contact with the Slovenian rider since he left in 2021 because of illness and the two exchanged messages about race strategy last week.
The Australian also went to see an early part of Tour of Flanders from the roadside, before watching Pogačar triumph on television at home.
“It was a very special day, I was very emotional,” Peiper said. “I’ve been living in Flanders for 46 years and I tried both as a rider and a director to win the race but I never succeeded.”
“Seeing Tadej win was very emotional and special because we are good friends, we have a good relationship and we are regularly in contact.”
Peiper suggested that Pogačar could have won the Tour of Flanders in 2022 and revealed that a broken television in the team car meant the management could not warn him of the return of Dylan van Baarle and Valentin Madouas as Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel were fighting for the victory.
Peiper had nothing but praise for how it all played out for Pogačar on Sunday, saying “he did the perfect race, when we exchanged messages last week, he told me the Kwaremont was the perfect place for him to attack.”
“He let a big group go, they got three minutes with 60 kilometres to go and the bunch was beginning to panic. The moment to go was on the second ascent of the Kwaremont and he and his teammates did what they had to do.”
Regarding Paris-Roubaix, Peiper viewed it as a challenge which Pogačar would take up, but not yet, even if many observers, including Eddy Merckx, believe Pogačar can win all five Monuments, including Paris-Roubaix.
“He loves the history of cycling, he knows the big races, the legends. The Flandrian races form part of its greatness and Paris-Roubaix, too, is part of its history,” Peiper said.
“Last year, he was pleasantly surprised by how he got on on the pavé of the Tour de France, obviously that’s a different race, but he was impressive.
"I don’t know what his plans are for the next few years, but one day he’ll be there at the Roubaix start, that’s for sure.
“His best years are yet to come, and he likes adventure, new experiences. He feeds off those things, and I think Paris-Roubaix will be his ultimate challenge.”
Peiper pointed to the differences between Flanders and Roubaix and explained why they made the latter more difficult for the Slovenian.
“On Sunday, he was ten kilos lighter than Van der Poel and that’s an advantage on the Kwaremont and the Paterberg. But at Roubaix, when you’re light, you lose energy because you have to push the pedals that much harder.
"Tadej says that Milan-San Remo will be his toughest challenge, but I think it’ll be Paris-Roubaix. But he's a phenomenal racer, so - everything’s possible.”
