Paris-Roubaix director says Pogacar 'capable' of winning rugged race

Pogacar won the Tour of Flanders last Sunday, racking up a third of cycling's five Monuments, the sport's most prestigious one-day races, having already won the Tour of Lombardy twice and the Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

Pogacar said that of the two remaining Monuments, Milan-San Remo would be hard to go after and the 66kg rider would need to put on some weight before challenging for Paris-Roubaix.

Typically the great one-day racers are heavier built than Pogacar and thereby do better in winds or on plains, while the slightly built Slovenian is a typical climber.

Pogacar has chosen against participating in Sunday's Paris-Roubaix and is set to feature in April 16th's Amstel Gold Race in the Netherlands.

"He can compensate for his lack of weight due to his extraordinary physical capabilities and his will to win," said Gouvenou, also the designer of the Tour de France.

Gouvenou referred to another rider endowed with deep willpower, France's five-time Tour de France winner Bernard Hinault.

"Bernard Hinault wasn't so heavy either and he won Paris-Roubaix," Gouvenou said, adding how impressed he had been with Pogacar's attack on the Champs Elysees on last year's Tour de France.

"It just shows you the depth of his mental strength. He's also a racer with a sense of his sport's history. Anyone who saw his 'knife between the teeth' attitude on the Paris-Nice would know that.

"And we certainly won't be telling him he can't come here because he's too skinny," Gouvenou added.

No rider other than Eddy Merckx has won all five Monuments plus the Tour de France, but at just 24 years old Pogacar has time to bridge that gap.