Pogacar After Flanders: "Motivation Is High, Pressure Is Low — Like the Tyres Will Be" as Roubaix Looms
Tadej Pogacar has won three from three in the 2026 spring Classics — Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, and now Tour of Flanders — and in a relaxed post-race interview in Oudenaarde, the Slovenian made it clear that the hardest challenge of his spring is still to come. But the man chasing history does not appear burdened by it.
"Motivation is high, pressure is low," Pogacar said, grinning. "Like the tyres will be." The line drew laughter from the assembled press, but it carried a deeper truth. After years of near-misses and tactical experiments on the cobbles, the 27-year-old appears to have arrived at Paris-Roubaix with a clarity of purpose — and a lightness of touch — that his rivals may find more dangerous than raw wattage alone.
The numbers from Flanders tell their own story. A 690-watt Kwaremont attack, a 34-second winning margin, and a run-in speed of 47 km/h that left Mads Pedersen and Mathieu van der Poel racing for scraps behind. It was arguably the most dominant one-day performance in modern cycling, and Pogacar treated the post-race podium as though he had won a local criterium.
That composure is what makes the UAE Team Emirates leader so frightening ahead of Roubaix. He has already completed the hardest part of his spring campaign — winning the cobbled Monument that historically least suited him — and can now approach the Hell of the North as a liberated rider rather than one carrying the weight of expectation. The Milan-San Remo monkey was shed in March; the Flanders question was answered on Easter Sunday. Only Roubaix remains.
His preparation has been meticulous. A 210-kilometre reconnaissance ride over the pave sectors in mid-March saw Pogacar and his team test multiple tyre widths, pressures, and a complete equipment overhaul built around the Colnago Y1Rs aero frame. UAE mechanics described the session as the most thorough Roubaix preparation the team has ever undertaken.
"We put a lot of effort into this winter specifically for Roubaix," Pogacar confirmed. "We tested everything. The bike, the tyres, the position. I feel good on the cobbles now in a way I maybe didn't before. Flanders has proved that."
The historical stakes are immense. Only three men in cycling history — Eddy Merckx, Rik Van Looy, and Roger De Vlaeminck — have won all five Monuments. Pogacar could become the fourth on April 12, and the first to win four of them in a single spring campaign. Even Merckx himself has endorsed the bid, telling Belgian media that Pogacar "has no limits."
Standing in his way is Van der Poel, the three-time defending champion who knows the Roubaix cobbles better than anyone in the current peloton. Wout van Aert, Pedersen, and Filippo Ganna will also fancy their chances. But after watching Pogacar dismantle the Flanders field with surgical precision, none of them can feel confident that any tactical plan will survive contact with the Slovenian's legs.
Six days to go. The tyres will be low. The motivation will be high. And the most ruthless version of Tadej Pogacar yet may be about to make history in the Roubaix velodrome.