Tadej Pogačar has welcomed the late addition of Remco Evenepoel to his opposition for the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, admitting on Belgian TV that while he was slightly surprised to see the announcement on April 1 of his debut, rumours had already been pointing to that possibility for months.
The World Champion arrived in Belgium on Thursday evening at the team hotel in Waregem, and quickly appeared on Sporza’s Vive le Vélo show, sporting his bleached blonde hair as he took questions from Karl Vannieuwkerke beside teammate Florian Vermeersch.
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Even when it did finally come out on the morning of Dwars door Vlaanderen, they had to emphasise that it wasn’t an April Fool’s joke. But Pogačar has somewhat been suspecting it.
“I was a little bit surprised and a little bit not,” said Pogačar on Sporza. “I heard some rumours that he wanted to do those races, already a long time ago, but also yesterday was like 1st April, so maybe it was a joke. No, it’s good to see him in the race on Sunday.”
It’s only Pogačar’s third race of the season, following his solo exhibition at Strade Bianche and dramatic comeback from a crash to finally win Milan-San Remo for the first time, but he will line up as both the defending champion and the heavy favourite to maintain that 100% record.
Pogačar has won his last two appearances in Flanders solo, attacking on Oude Kwaremont on both occasions after repeatedly putting his competitors to the sword. Victory would make him the equal-most successful rider in men’s Tour of Flanders history, joining Mathieu van der Poel, Fabian Cancellara, Tom…
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