Tadej Pogačar has made another change to his spring schedule, dropping next Wednesday’s Dwars door Vlaanderen Classic from his calendar, to give him more time to recover between races. His race calendar extends late into April and includes the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Friday’s E3 Saxo Classic remains on the plan, with Pogačar already in Belgium for what is considered a vital test for the Tour de Flanders.
Pogačar has never raced the E3 Saxo Classic before but is clearly enthusiastic about the race.
“After Paris-Nice we are full of confidence as a team and feel ready to take on the Classics,” Pogačar said via UAE Team Emirates.
“It’s my first time at E3 so it’s a new experience and a new challenge. I’m excited about it : the atmosphere in Belgium during these weeks is something special and the passion the people have for cycling is really beautiful. I have great memories from this period last season and hungry to race here again.”
Pogačar dominated Paris-Nice and was fourth in Milan-San Remo after launching the decisive attack on the Poggio. He is a Grand Tour and stage race winner but also loves aking on Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert in the Classics.
The UAE Team Emirates line-up for the E3 Saxo Classic include Mikkel Zberg, Ryan Gibbons, Matteo Trentin, Sjoerd Bax, Rui Oliveira and Tim Wellens.
Pogačar finished tenth in Dwars door Vlaanderen last year and then produced a memorably performance in Flanders, where he placed fourth and came within a whisker of winning.
Following his E3 Saxo Classic debut on Friday there are unconfirmed reports that rather than remain in northern Europe, Pogačar will return to his Monaco base for more training prior to a return to Belgium for Flanders, which takes place on Sunday April 2nd.
For now the remainder of Pogačar’s Spring Classics campaign remains unchanged, with the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège preceding a spell of rest and a probable return to his home race of the Tour of Slovenia prior to his build-up to the Tour de France.
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