Tadej Pogacar, despite his extraordinary qualities, today at Paris-Roubaix had to settle for second place behind Mathieu van der Poel. The Slovenian probably paid for his inexperience in this race and also a bike problem in the final kilometers, which certainly did not help him recover the gap he had towards the Dutchman.

The world champion at the Hell of the North will certainly return and congratulated Van der Poel for his extraordinary victory. "If I were a child, Mathieu would definitely be my idol" – he said at the finish line - "I have never pedaled putting so much power before. But after this experience, I will return with even more ambition, to win".

Last week, the world champion won the Tour of Flanders in an extraordinary way, but was unable to repeat the feat at Paris-Roubaix. His gritty and tactical way of racing impressed opponents and spectators, with a series of attacks that characterize his racing style. However, not everything went the right way and the Slovenian admitted to having made some mistakes.

"I entered that corner too quickly because I was looking at the motorcycles in front of me and in my head I only had the thought of going straight. And then suddenly that corner arrived, very fast. It happened, but I should have known".

Reflecting calmly, Pogacar is convinced that nothing would have changed the result of this Roubaix, because Van der Poel proved to be too strong an opponent. "Regardless of what happened in the corner, I would have had no chance against Mathieu if there had been a sprint finish. He is a great champion. And it is a great honor to race against him and he always gives me extra motivation".

Pogacar did not win, but probably this is a race that will one day be part of his palmares, because champions like him truly manage to win everything. The Slovenian is a class apart in grand tours, but he loves racing Classics and with Roubaix, he has established a special relationship.

"I fell in love with this race seven years ago and that hasn't changed, in fact. It was fantastic to race here, even if it was one of the most difficult races I have ever done. I pushed to the maximum in very few races, but never like in this one. Then there's the stress that increases before every pavé section. I hope that in the future it won't be so difficult, now that I have gained this experience maybe I will return. In fact, we will return next year even more motivated and with the intention of fighting for victory".

UAE Emirates raced really well and Pogacar is very satisfied with the work of his teammates. "Today was a great race for our team. We placed two men among the top five. This gives us the motivation and awareness that we can return next year with an even stronger team to seek important results in the coming years".