Tadej Pogačar and Paris-Roubaix: A decade of history

Following his triumphant return to the Tour of Flanders last weekend, Tadej Pogačar heads back to the cobblestones on Sunday to make his Paris-Roubaix debut, two months after rumours were first sparked when he rode a recon of the famous cobbled sectors of Northern France.

The Slovenian, currently holding the Merckxian achievement of being the reigning champion of two Grand Tours and three Monuments, isn't quite the betting favourite to add a ninth Monument to his career palmarès on Sunday afternoon.

He ranks second in the odds to the man he beat in Flanders – two-time Roubaix winner Mathieu van der Poel. Meanwhile, the rest of the list of top favourites are made up of those of the powerful rouleur-and sprinter-type builds with far more experience at the Hell of the North.

But that's not to say the world champion is a complete newcomer to the harsh, flat cobbles of Paris-Roubaix. In fact, he has a history with them stretching back a decade – even if he hasn't been a regular visitor, unlike many of his rivals for the famous cobblestone trophy.

Pogačar's first date with Paris-Roubaix came all the way back in 2015, when he rode the junior edition of the Monument aged 16 in Slovenian national kit.

The race, part of the French National Cup series, ran 111km from Saint-Amand-les-Eaux to the velodrome in Roubaix, taking in 28.9km of cobbles along the way.

While the famous Trouée d'Arenberg sector wasn't on the menu – the forest lies to the south of the start town – Pogačar and co. still had to contend with more than half the sectors of the elite race, including four- and five-star stretches at Auchy-lez-Orchies, Mons-en-Pévèle, Camphin-en-Pévèle, and the Carrefour de l'Arbre.

Pogačar's first experience at Roubaix wasn't an overwhelming success, or at least not an indicator that he might one day be among the favourites to win the elite race.

As Bram Welten – now at Picnic-PostNL – beat Pascal Eenkhoorn – Soudal-QuickStep – to the title in Roubaix's Vélodrome André-Pétrieux, Pogačar battled home to a 30th place finish, 2:32 behind the fight for the win.

That year, he'd also finish fourth in the Swiss stage race, the junior Tour du Léman, and eighth overall in the Course de la Paix. The following season, his last among the junior ranks, would mark his final date with the Roubaix cobbles for a long while.

On April 10, the day Mathew Hayman scored one of the most memorable Paris-Roubaix victories in living memory, Pogačar was back on the startlist.

Once again, there were 111km to contend with, including those four brutal cobbled sectors on the road to the finish.

In the end, he'd put in a much-improved ride by comparison with the previous year, finishing 13th place, seventh in a large peloton that sprinted home 33 seconds behind the winner.

Up the road, Jarno Mobach, a future Continental pro, took a solo win four seconds ahead of a group of largely future WorldTour racers, including Jasper Philipsen and Marc Hirschi.

For his part, Pogačar finished among names including Stefan Bissegger (ninth), Fred Wright (24th), Tom Pidcock (42nd), and Jordi Meeus (16th).

The latter, the Belgian sprinter who will line up for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe at Sunday's race, recently told Cyclingnews he couldn't remember racing against Pogačar at the time but said that he's sure Pogačar will be able to cope fine on his race debut despite a relative lack of racing experience on the cobbles.

"I recently saw a picture; I think it was yesterday or two days ago. It was then that I realised he was there," Meeus said.

"I wouldn't say he needs more practice. He did quite some good recons already. I spoke to one of his teammates who was there, and he has quite a strong pace on the cobbles already.

"I mean, with the level he has and also his experience at Flanders and the Belgian races, I think he's definitely one of the competitors."

Pogačar would go on to take the Slovenian junior time trial title, the Giro della Lunigiana, and bronze in the road race at the European Championships before shifting up to the U23 ranks and beginning his ascent to superstardom.

There'd be no date with Paris-Roubaix Espoirs during those two seasons. However, he did race on the cobblestones at the U23 versions of Gent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders, with 15th place at the latter race in 2018 as his best result.

Instead, there'd be a four-year wait to see him back on the Paris-Roubaix cobblestones. The 2022 Tour de France paid a visit shortly after the Copenhagen Grand Départ as stage 5 played host to 11 cobbled sectors for a 157km race from Lille to Wallers-Arenberg, the finish line lying just short of the famous forest.

Pogačar, setting out to perform a Tour de France three-peat that year, coped famously well with the cobbles on his first senior rendezvous, finishing in seventh place on the stage alongside fellow attacker and seasoned cobbled specialist Jasper Stuyven.

He wasn't content with following wheels and staying safe on the hazardous stage; instead, he pushed on at the front and went on the offensive on the cobbles. At the 2.8km, four-star sector at Wandingies-Hamage, the seventh of the day, he led from the front of a heavily reduced peloton.

Further back, his rivals at Jumbo-Visma were in disarray, with Primož Roglič having crashed at a roundabout on the run-in and the team botching a bike change for Jonas Vingegaard on the previous sector.

Pogačar was keen to extend his advantage over his main rivals, at one point leading Vingegaard by a minute. It was on the ninth sector, another four-star strip at Tilloy-les-Marchiennes, which saw he and Stuyven go clear, with the Belgian leading the move.

No others could follow the pair, who opened up a 30-second advantage with 18km to run. Work from Ineos and Jumbo would restrict Pogačar's gains on the day to 13 seconds at the finish, but that day, he had shown he belonged and could thrive on the cobbles.

Pogačar later called the stage "stressful" and "tough", adding that he prefers the far smoother cobbles of the Champs-Elysées.

"It was a really good day, I felt good on pavé, and I wasn’t unlucky in any way," he said. "That was a really hard day. It was quite stressful in the first part, and the second part was really tough.

"It was a lot of power on the pedals through the day, and the cobbles were dusty and dangerous. I like cobbles, but at the same time, when it's not dry, it'd be a very different experience. The cobbles I really like are on the Champs-Elysées."

He'd go on to lose the Tour to Vingegaard following a famous breakdown on the Col du Granon, but, of course, plenty more success has followed.

A return to the cobbles only came in February of this year, when he took on a lengthy recon of the course accompanied by UAE Team-Emirates-XRG teammate Tim Wellens and directeur sportif Fabio Baldato.

Months of rumours followed, with his team seemingly dead set against Pogačar racing, given a crash may end up compromising his main season goal, the Tour de France. But the world champion got his way in the end, and he'll become the first Tour champion to line up at Roubaix since Greg Lemond in 1991.

Should he win, he'd be the first rider since Bernard Hinault in 1981 to win both the Tour and Roubaix, though he insists he's just seeking the full racing experience rather than building his legacy.

"I don't think about what I want to be after, how people see me, but I don't know. I just want to do whatever keeps me interested in cycling and not lose motivation or just give up because it becomes boring," Pogačar said last week.

"I just want to get through all the experience and get the most out of the cycling so that when I retire, I will not have any regrets and can say that I did my best in every aspect of cycling – that's my goal."

Sunday's Paris-Roubaix will only be Tadej Pogačar's fourth racing outing on the cobbles of Northern France, but it will be the most-anticipated debut for years.