The possibility of Tadej Pogačar riding this year's Paris-Roubaix has fallen after his crash at Strade Bianche, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG manager Mauro Gianetti preferring to avoid any risks that could compromise his 2025 season and especially the Tour de France.
Pogačar said he and the team will make a decision about riding Paris-Roubaix after riding Milan-San Remo on March 22. He seemed keen to race the hellish one-day race after carrying out a surprise recon of the race route and the Forest of Arenberg.
However, a debut on the pavé of northern France now looks in doubt after Pogačar's high-speed crash sparked questions about the risks of riding Paris-Roubaix.
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Gianetti praised Pogačar for his courage after his victory in Siena but was initially scared of his crash injuries. Pogačar suffered multiple abrasions but avoided anything more serious.
"Tadej could have fractured a collarbone and been seriously hurt. He banged his head, but fortunately, he was on the grass. He was full of road rash, but it could have been a lot worse," Gianetti told La Gazzetta dello Sport, Radio Rai and Cyclingnews in Siena.
Gianetti sees Pogačar's Strade Bianche crash as a warning about the risks of riding Paris-Roubaix.
"Tadej wants to give Roubaix a go, but I keep telling him that he needs to wait before doing it, to not take risks, because he could really get hurt," Gianetti said in Siena.
"A bad crash could jeopardize the Tour de France and maybe even the whole season. I hope that he doesn’t do it this year, and I’ll tell him once again: there is still time in his career for him to ride Paris-Roubaix."
Pogačar was going too fast and appeared to take a poor line into the asphalt corner and then lost control of his bike, sliding out into a field with 50km to go.
The world champion conceded that the crash had been his fault. He joked that he was under pressure to show his bike handling skills as he tried to follow Olympic MTB champion Tom Pidcock but admitted "I actually showed I'm pretty shit…"
Pogačar was not due to ride this week's Tirreno-Adriatico, with Milan-San Remo his next big goal as he targets a series of Classics in the spring of 2025.
"There are two weeks for Tadej to recover and reset. Milan-San Remo is the next big challenge for us and for Tadej," concluded UAE's team boss.
