Now Pogačar's sights are on the treble
The Slovenian has won Amstel, Flèche and Liège in the past two seasons – can he now clinch the triple crown in the space of a week?
by Lionel Birnie
As I left the André-Pétrieux velodrome on Sunday evening after recording our episode of Arrivée following Paris-Roubaix, I noticed the portraits on the wall outside the main grandstand. There was the original Mr Paris-Roubaix, four-time winner Roger De Vlaeminck, although Tom Boonen, who equalled that recorded in 2012, was absent, unless he was tucked away round the corner somewhere. Eddy Merckx, who won three times, was there, as was Francesco Moser who until Sunday was one of two riders to win three in a row (the other was Octave Lapize). And Bernard Hinault, who won in 1981. I’m not quite sure why a one-time winner who couldn’t conceal his dislike for the race was up there, but I suppose he won in the rainbow jersey and we were in France, after all. It was presumably a choice between the Badger, Marc Madiot, Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle or Frédéric Guesdon. As I walked back to my car I reflected that they ought now commission someone to complete a portrait of the modern day king of the cobbles, Mathieu van der Poel, in time for next year’s race after he equalled Moser and Lapize’s three-in-a-row.
Like the Tour of Flanders, it was a blistering race for a while, utterly compelling, until – suddenly – it was all over. Tadej Pogačar’s misjudgement as he led round a right-hand corner on the Pont-Thibault sector of pavé with 38 kilometres to go cost him the race but what would have happened if he’d still been with Van der Poel when the Dutchman had a flat tyre with 15 kilometres to go? Any doubt that Pogačar can win this race in future was quashed. While Van der Poel was undoubtedly the strongest rider, Pogačar’s debut and particularly his demeanour in the press conference afterwards suggested that he’ll keep coming back until he has a cobblestone trophy of his own.
During our recording, Daniel asked me to set the scene. I was sitting on cold concrete bleachers in the old grandstand, looking out over the artificial grass in the track centre as groups of workers in hi-vis jackets and thick gloves dismantled the fencing and the podium. The crowd which had packed into the old stadium had all gone home and there was just a group of Belgian fans taking some last selfies and a couple of children racing round the track. It didn’t feel especially magical at that moment, more like the kitchen the morning after a raucous late-night party.
So I probably didn’t capture the majesty or history of the place in that moment. As Daniel and I said our goodbyes, I joked that I probably felt so at home in the old stadium because it reminded me of a non-league football ground, which I meant with great affection. It was only as I made my way down the steps and took a look along the finishing straight from the final bend that it really sank in. The place was cold and empty, the clanging of barriers echoed in the air but it struck me just what the old stadium had witnessed since the first finish on the track in 1943 – Coppi, Van Looy, Merckx, Boonen, Cancellara, Van der Poel.
We joked that if the Spring Classics had been a Netflix series we’d have been lamenting that the writers appeared to have run out of ideas with their denouement to the Paris-Roubaix episode. Surely the race, and those which have preceded it this spring, deserved more than one of the main guys just falling off his bike?
Now we shift our focus to the hilly classics. I must admit, I am ready for some new storylines and the return of Remco Evenepoel after his training crash in December will make Brabantse Pijl appointment viewing today (Friday). Tom Pidcock is back in action too, and we will see if the altitude training in Tenerife finally pays off this Classics season for Wout Van Aert at Amstel Gold Race, before he heads to the Giro.
In this week’s episode Sierra Yankee, Larry Warbasse dashed my hopes of seeing some different scenarios play out over the next ten days. Tadej Pogačar is set to ride Amstel Gold, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Larry reckons he will be the first male rider to do the triple since Philippe Gilbert in 2011. Two years ago, Pogačar polished off the first two courses before that crash at Liège which derailed his season and impacted his Tour de France ambitions. It’s difficult to see past him for Flèche and Liège because the steepness of the Mur de Huy and the sheer difficulty of the back half from Bastogne to Liège, but the Amstel Gold Race can be trickier, more unpredictable race. The Cycling Podcast be back on Tuesday to discuss Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold before the Uphill Cheese Roll on Wednesday.
The latest from The Cycling Podcast
OUT NOW
Sierra Yankee
Daniel and Lionel are joined by Larry Warbasse to talk Teide, tyre pressures and look ahead to the Ardennes Classics
The Cycling Podcast Féminin – A Saturday In Hell
Join Rose Manley and Denny Gray on location at Paris-Roubaix
Coorevits Corner
Our latest KM0 episode for Friends of the Podcast subscribers. Lionel meets veteran reporter Hugo Coorevits for a guided tour of Koers, the cycling museum in Roeselare
COMING SOON
The Beast In The East
A bonus KM0 episode marking the 20th anniversary of England’s spring classic, the Cicle Classic
Tuesday – Amstel Gold
Daniel and Lionel recap Brabantse Pijl and the Amstel Gold Race before the Ardennes
Wednesday – Flèche Wallonne Arrivée
A pair of episodes covering the men’s and women’s races at the ‘uphill cheese roll’
Sunday – Liège-Bastogne-Liège Arrivée
La Doyenne, the fourth and final monument of the spring wraps up the classics for now
Rose and Denny in Roubaix
Listen to the feature from the latest episode of The Cycling Podcast Féminin, which features Rose and Denny out on the pavé following Paris-Roubaix Femmes from the team bus paddock to the velodrome.
Countdown to the Giro…
Three weeks today, the Giro d’Italia will get underway in Albania. This will be the 10th edition of the Giro The Cycling Podcast has covered daily with episodes recorded on the ground. We started way back in May 2016, when the Giro began in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands. (That was the year I declined to sing Happy Birthday to Richard on the grounds that it might infringe copyright!) Since then, we’ve had some memorable grandi partenze – Sardinia and Sicily in 2017, Israel in 2018, Bologna (the culinary capital of Italy) in 2019, and Hungary in 2022 are the ones that stand out for me. This year’s coverage will kick-off in a couple of weeks with the now traditional XL Preview episode before I join Daniel for the opening weekend in Albania and the first few days in Italy, at which point I’ll give Brian Nygaard a Madison hand-sling and he’ll take over the mic.
Why more cyclists are switching to Laka
Thank you to Laka for sponsoring our coverage of the spring Classics. Our listeners can get the first 30 days of cover free when they sign up at laka.co/tcp
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Laka is proud to be sponsoring The Cycling Podcast’s spring Classics coverage, and listeners can get their first 30 days free with the code TCP30 at laka.co. Because when things go wrong, Laka’s got your back. T&Cs apply.
From the vault: Lionel of the Ardennes
In 2019, Lionel and Simon recorded this sequel to the Lionel of Flanders, heading to Wallonia for the two hilly Classics that conclude the spring campaign. While there, they discovered that the region, and its cycling culture, while slightly less heralded, is every bit as rich as that in Flanders. While there, they rode the Mur de Huy and the Liège-Bastogne-Liège sportive and delved into the history of the races. You can listen to this two-part series, which by scrolling back through the Friends of the Podcast feed to April 2019.
Sold out: Stacy’s classic cobbled cups
Stacy Snyder’s limited edition batch of classic cobbled cups sold out almost as soon as they went on sale on Saturday. The cups have been despatched and are making their way to listeners all over the world. At least one has already reached its destination as listener Michael Wilson sent in this photo of his cup and says he loves it. We’re very glad, Michael! Although Stacy is not planning to make cups for the grand tours this season, we’ll update you if there are plans for special one-off batches.
Podcast jerseys make connections
Richard Moore’s Dad, Brian, was on a cycling holiday in Majorca a couple of weeks ago when he spotted someone wearing one of The Cycling Podcast’s MAAP jerseys. He went over to introduce himself and learned it was Matt Rogers, producer of the film Enter the Slipstream, made during the 2020 ‘lockdown’ edition of the Tour de France, featuring the EF Education team. The film, which featured Richard and François Thomazeau, was the subject of an episode of KM0 we made when it was released in 2023. Matt said of his encounter: ‘I had decided to wear my white MAAP TCP jersey this one day to match my new white bike and was so lucky to have done so.’