Tadej Poga\u010dar roars into Paris-Roubaix on the brink of history, but he\u2019s the first to point out the obvious \u2014 he hasn\u2019t won it yet<\/em>.<\/p>\n The world champion has ripped through the 2026 season unbeaten, yet on the eve of cycling\u2019s most brutal one-day race, he looks as chilled as ever.<\/p>\n It\u2019s just that everyone else is getting worked up.<\/p>\n A victory Sunday would make the Slovenian only the fourth pro cyclist to win all five of the brutal one-day monuments, a kind of grand slam of the peloton that would put him in the pantheon of cycling gods.<\/p>\n That\u2019s cycling\u2019s ultimate club, but Pogi\u2019s not buying it.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody talks about some sort of club, but it\u2019s a monument, and we go for the win, as we do in any race we start,\u201d Poga\u010dar said Saturday. \u201cWe didn\u2019t succeed yet, so for us it would be amazing if we can win it, but we don\u2019t sit on the bus or eat dinner and talk about some club.\u201d<\/p>\n He might not, but everyone else is.<\/p>\n Paris-Roubaix is so brutal that no Tour de France winner has won it since Bernard Hinault in the 1980s. Most skinny yellow jersey chasers have wanted no part of it.<\/p>\n Yet he almost did<\/em> win last year if it wasn\u2019t for that \u201ccorner,\u201d which he overcooked late in the race just when he had Mathieu van der Poel on the ropes.<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar insists little has changed since his improbable debut here last year, which blew cycling\u2019s collective mind.<\/p>\n In Compi\u00e8gne, his thoughts were on the Roubaix finish line, but not on what it all might mean.<\/p>\n \u201cWe changed a bit the equipment, but the rest is the same,\u201d Pogacar said. \u201cThere is a bit more experience from me, and the motivation is the same, and the hunger for victory is strong.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s one of the toughest races to finish, so to fight for the victory is difficult. It\u2019s a hell of a course.\u201d<\/p>\n Less than 24 hours before the start in Compi\u00e8gne, Poga\u010dar enters the most difficult race for him to win with Buddha-like calm.<\/p>\n Nothing appears to rattle him. Not even Roubaix.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s one of the hardest races I\u2019ve ever done, and tomorrow is the same. The biggest challenge is the cobbles and surviving the sectors,\u201d Poga\u010dar said. \u201cI think it\u2019s possible to win tomorrow but dropping Mathieu is going to be hard.\u201d<\/p>\n That \u201cMathieu\u201d is Mathieu van der Poel, the reigning master of the cobbles who\u2019s won three straight Roubaix\u2019s.<\/p>\n The Dutchman has made clear he intends to take the fight head-on, setting up the next round in a heavyweight clash that has defined the modern era.<\/p>\n Still, the consensus across the paddock is that Poga\u010dar is the man to beat.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are seeing something special with Tadej racing because he is one of the best ever, so yes, he can win tomorrow and I think he can if he\u2019s not unlucky,\u201d said John Degenkolb, a former Roubaix winner. \u201cThose two are stronger than everyone else right now. The rest can only hope to try to find an opening.\u201d<\/p>\n Inside the UAE Emirates-XRG bus, the belief is absolute. The squad is fully committed to delivering Poga\u010dar to the Roubaix velodrome in a position to win.<\/p>\n \u201cTadej is feeling good, and he was very fast on the cobbles the other day in recon,\u201d said teammate Nils Politt, also a Roubaix podium finisher. \u201cWe all start with the idea of helping Tadej win. I think he can do it, and tomorrow is a good chance for him to make history.\u201d<\/p>\n Wins at Strade\u00a0Bianche, Milan-San Remo and Tour of Flanders have made even the final holdouts admit that Poga\u010dar is one of the greats.<\/p>\n Watching Poga\u010dar race on Sunday is like living cycling\u2019s version of the days of Michael Jordan\u2019s dominance or Rafael Nadal ruling the courts.<\/p>\n The Poga\u010dar Show arrived Saturday to Compi\u00e8gne, the leafy ex-burb that is the unlikely start of cycling\u2019s unlikeliest race. He is sporting some fresh platinum blonde touches, and he made the rounds with his trademark carefree vibe.<\/p>\n Crowds pressed in for a glimpse of cycling\u2019s latest alpha. Security pushed fans out of the way as he slipped into the team car.<\/p>\n Just like he is on the bike, he was calm and composed amid the frenzy that he provokes around him.<\/p>\n For all the hype, Poga\u010dar is more bemused than annoyed about all the fuss. He stops for selfies, signs autographs, and lives in the moment.<\/p>\n It\u2019s only the thrill of the hunt that motivates Poga\u010dar now.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope I learned something from last year and I can fight for the win again,\u201d he said when asked what Roubaix means. \u201cNo, not obsession, no.\u201d<\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019s not an obsession, but it\u2019s starting to feel like inevitability.<\/p>\n In less than 24 hours, Poga\u010dar will hit the cobbles again, chasing the final victory that would cement his place among cycling\u2019s immortals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/tadej-pogacar-plays-it-cool-but-paris-roubaix-is-the-one-he-wants\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2270301373.jpg”] Andrew Hood Published April 11, 2026 02:18PM Tadej Poga\u010dar roars into Paris-Roubaix on the brink of history, but he\u2019s the first to point out the obvious \u2014 he hasn\u2019t won it yet. The world champion has ripped through the 2026 season unbeaten, yet on the eve of cycling\u2019s most brutal one-day race, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1878420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1878420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1878420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1878420\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1878420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1878420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1878420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u2018Hunger for victory is strong\u2019<\/h2>\n
![\"World](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2270334675-720x480.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
\u2018Not an obsession\u2019<\/h2>\n
![\"UAE](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2270303013-720x480.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")