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Monuments

Pogacar: "I'd Choose Roubaix Over the Fifth Tour" — World Champion Puts Monuments Above Everything

CYCLING LOOKOUT • 4 APRIL 2026

In a sport defined by the pursuit of Grand Tour glory, Tadej Pogacar has made what might be the most extraordinary declaration of the modern era. Asked during his UAE Team Emirates-XRG winter training camp in Benidorm whether he would rather win Paris-Roubaix or a record-equalling fifth Tour de France, the world champion did not hesitate. "I think I would choose Roubaix," he said, "because I already won the Tour four times."

The admission — calm, matter-of-fact, devastating in its implications — tells you everything about where Pogacar stands in 2026. He is no longer simply chasing victories; he is chasing the kind of legacy that transcends generation and era. With a record-breaking 12th Monument win at the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, Pogacar has already surpassed Roger De Vlaeminck's all-time mark. But Paris-Roubaix remains the gap in his palmarès, the one Monument that has eluded him, and the one that would make him only the fourth rider in history — after Eddy Merckx, Rik Van Looy and De Vlaeminck — to have won all five.

Pogacar elaborated on his thinking with typical directness. "If I ever win San Remo and Roubaix, there is not much more you can do," he told reporters. "There is more difference between never having won Roubaix and doing it once than between winning four or five Tours." It is a statement that cuts to the heart of what drives the 27-year-old Slovenian: not the accumulation of the same title, but the conquest of every challenge the sport can offer.

His 2026 season has been built around this ambition. Where other Grand Tour riders might use the spring as preparation for July, Pogacar has constructed his entire early-season programme to peak on the cobbles. He won Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo in March, then pivoted to the cobbled Classics block with an intensity that suggests Paris-Roubaix is not merely on his schedule — it is the focal point around which everything else orbits.

The exhaustive two-day reconnaissance of the pavé with Florian Vermeersch underlined his commitment. Pogacar covered over 210 kilometres across the cobbled sectors, testing wider tyres and adjusting his equipment setup in conditions that ranged from dry to waterlogged. His UAE squad for April 12 is taking shape: Vermeersch, Nils Politt, Mikkel Bjerg, Julius Johansen and Rui Oliveira are confirmed, with one final spot to be decided between Antonio Morgado and Sebastián Molano.

The challenge is immense. Mathieu van der Poel has won Paris-Roubaix three times in a row and is targeting a record-equalling fourth. The Dutchman's mastery of the pavé — his reading of the road, his ability to accelerate out of corners and through the worst sectors, his cyclocross-honed bike handling — makes him the benchmark. Pogacar finished second to Van der Poel at Roubaix in 2025, staying with him deep into the finale before fading in the Carrefour de l'Arbre, a performance that proved he belongs in the race but also exposed the gap he still needs to close.

That gap, Pogacar believes, is smaller than it appears. "Last year I was there until the last 20 kilometres," he reflected. "The difference was positioning and experience, not power. I know the sectors better now. I know where the race is won and where it can be lost." His Flanders victory — a solo attack on the Oude Kwaremont that left Van der Poel trailing — suggests his top-end power has never been higher.

Beyond Roubaix, the Tour de France in Barcelona awaits in July, where a fifth yellow jersey would tie the records of Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain. But for now, Pogacar's eyes are fixed on the velodrome in Roubaix. April 12 represents more than a bike race; it represents the chance to complete a collection that only the very greatest riders in history have assembled. If Pogacar is right — if Roubaix truly matters more to him than a fifth Tour — then the Hell of the North is about to witness something unforgettable.

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