‘A Sunday in Hell did not appear to cease Tadej Pogacar – he is the planet’s biggest athlete’
On a Sunday in Hell the planet’s greatest athlete descended down from Planet Pog and ripped up the book of reasoning once again.
Pogacar, 26, is without question the current best cyclist in the world to grace the professional peloton – the rainbow bands he proudly wears around his waist as World Champion prove this.
And yet even this alien on wheels had been dissuade from lining up on the start line of Paris-Roubaix. It’s too risky, he was told – those cobbled roads that line the parcourse from Compiegne to Roubaix take no prisoners.
It’s a race that has ended careers, re-shaped lives – and earned its name the Hell of the North after a journalist was sent to inspect it after the First World War.
Tour de France’s champions have long-since avoided this lottery on wheels – it’s been over 30 years since the last defending champion lined up on a cold spring morning in Compiegne.
(Image: Getty Images)
However, Pogacar has never been one of the rules.
He’s admitted he wants to go down as the greatest cyclist of all time. Last season he was the first rider in 26 years to win the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France in the season.
And his win in the World Championship a couple of months later saw him become only the third ever to complete the Triple Crown.
(Image: Getty Images)
Pogacar will be in Lille this summer when when the Tour’s three weeks of madness kick off again – but, in the meantime, he wants the monuments.
They told him you can’t win Milan-Sanremo from the Cipressa; he attacked there anyway. Pogacar dragged Mathieu Van der Poel and Pippo Ganna with him – both with wide open mouths turning themselves inside out to stay with the superstar Slovenian.
Van der Poel, the quicker sprinter of the two and the man who the terrain suited, won the sprint. No matter, Pogacar would get his own back on the cobbled bergs of Flanders. 1-1.
(Image: Getty Images)
Cycling fans had begged Pogacar to line up at Roubaix, the best rider in the world and the best race in the world. It seemed to be a match made in heaven.
But Roubaix is a race like no other, Johan Museeuw almost lost his leg after a crash on the infamous Arenberg sector. Pogacar was warned by pundits – don’t come, one wrong move could end your season…even your career.
He was told he’s too light, seldom does a racer under 70kg win here.
Don’t miss a thing with sport updates!
Want to keep up with all of the latest sport news? Well then sign up for the brilliant Daily Star Off the Ball email newsletter!
From darts, boxing and UFC, to snooker, F1 and golf, get it all in your email inbox.
How do you sign up?
Simply click on this link, then provide your email address and that’s it, job done. You’ll receive an email with all of the top football stories.
You can also sign up for our Daily Star Football email for all the latest transfer news and breaking stories, right here
But Pogacar just loves to ride his bike and he loves to go fast. He put on the show of shows as he glided over the cobbles – dropping veterans like Wout van Aert who are more suited to these unforgiving roads.
In the end, his confidence was his own undoing. The Slovenian had taken an axe to the peloton and carved a situation with just himself and Van der Poel at the front.
The two modern titans of sport went toe-to-toe again before Pogacar overcooked a corner and Van der Poel was able to call upon his cyclo-cross skills to avoid him.
He rolled into the famous old velodrome second. Van der Poel took his third win in as many season.
Pogacar will be back, to cement himself as the greatest of all time – but on Sunday he proved he’s the greatest athlete, across all sports, on the planet.
