Tadej Pogacar will have to 'risk everything' to win all five Monuments - Philippe Gilbert exclusive

Updated 28/02/2023 at 12:58 GMT

Could Tadej Pogacar become just the second rider in history to win all five Monuments and the Tour de France during his career? Only the great Eddy Merckx has achieved the feat, but Pogacar has emerged as a credible contender and has already ticked off the Tour (twice), Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Il Lombardia (twice). Pogacar will skip his Strade Bianche title defence on Saturday.

'I still have a hesitation' - Why Pogacar must 'risk everything' to win all five Monuments

Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) will have to “risk everything” if he wants to win a full set of Monuments during his career, according to Eurosport expert Philippe Gilbert, who fears a Paris-Roubaix challenge may be too perilous for the Slovenian sensation.

Cycling’s five Monuments – Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Il Lombardia – are widely considered the most prestigious one-day races outside of the Olympic Games and World Championships.

Pogacar already boasts two on his palmarès – Liege (2021) and Il Lombardia (2021 and 2022) – and boasts top-five finishes at Milan-San Remo and Tour of Flanders. Only a tactical meltdown saw him finish off the podium in Flanders last year, with Pogacar somehow finishing fourth in a two-horse race after the most bizarre sprint showdown with Mathieu van der Poel.

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Gilbert won four of the five Monuments during a stellar career, with only Milan-San Remo eluding him, and said the different race profiles made a sweep particularly challenging.

“Winning five different Monuments is not an easy target. It takes a lot of energy, a lot of strength because they are very different races,” said Gilbert.

“San-Remo is almost made for sprinters or puncheurs, you have Flanders and Roubaix for strong and heavy guys, and the other two – Liege and Lombardia – for light riders. It is not easy to compete on the highest level at those five races.”

Only Rik Van Looy, Eddy Merckx and Roger De Vlaeminck have won all five. Of those three, only the legendary Merckx has also won a Grand Tour.

Pogacar heads into the new road season chasing revenge, having relinquished his Tour title to Jonas Vingegaard and Jumbo-Visma last season. He has already won four times in 2023, including three stages at the Vuelta a Andalucia earlier in February as he cruised to the GC win.

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But Gilbert suggests that the 24-year-old’s obsession with the Tour may mean a Paris-Roubaix bid is too risky, given the chaos that unfolds annually on the French cobbles.

“I think Pogacar maybe can be one to win all five, but I still have a hesitation about Roubaix,” continued Gilbert.

“Not only about his capacity [to win it] but more about the risk you have to take to win Roubaix. As a Grand Tour contender, I don’t know if he wants to risk everything for Roubaix. So question mark on that one.”

Gilbert’s comments come after his fellow Eurosport expert Adam Blythe tipped Pogacar to challenge for all five Monuments, while also admitting his reservations about a Paris-Roubaix bid.

“Racing is so focused on one part of the season and his is obviously the Tour de France,” said Blythe.

“So everything is around that and I think for Pogacar going to Paris-Roubaix is such a gamble – crashing, not crashing.

“Imagine dedicating his early part of the season to Roubaix and then something happening that could also affect his Tour de France if he crashed badly…

“So I think yes, he can win Paris-Roubaix in future, but I guess if he can win the Tour de France again, he's got to do that. So that'll be the big focus.

“I think once he's accepted what he wants to do at the Tour de France and says, 'right I’m going to try and win some Classics and Monuments’ then I think the focus will change. I think he can do it and win all five, but not for a few years yet.”

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