UAE Team Emirates' Tadej Pogačar has ended his 2020 season, and won't line up for the Tour of Flanders on October 18, as previously planned. The Tour de France winner instead needs a rest, his team told the Belgian media.
At 21, the Slovenian became the second-youngest Tour winner in history, and the youngest in 116 years. 19-year-old Frenchman Henri Cornet won the second edition of the race in 1904.
Pogačar turned 22 the day after finishing the Tour but had little time to celebrate his birthday or Tour victory, going on to take part in the World Championships road race in Imola, Italy, the following weekend, where he finished 33rd, ahead of taking ninth place at Flèche Wallonne and third at Liège-Bastogne-Liège last weekend.
"After a few busy weeks, he'll now take a rest period," the UAE Team Emirates told Sporza on Tuesday.
"Tadej has had a busy period since the Tour, with the World Championships and the Ardennes Classics, and so his season is over."
Pogačar was set to take part in his first Tour of Flanders, and Jasper Philipsen was sure that his teammate's good run of form could have continued at the Belgian one-day race, too.
"Tadej certainly has what it takes to compete in the final of the Tour of Flanders, as he can handle cobblestones well," Philipsen told Sporza.
