Latest news with #E3SaxoClassic
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Van der Poel demands action after being hit in face by projectile at Paris-Roubaix
Mathieu van der Poel was struck in the face by a water bottle thrown from the roadside during his third consecutive win at Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, prompting the Dutch cyclist to call for action. The 30-year-old is a huge star on the road cycling scene but is not universally popular and has had his share of run-ins with fans over the years. "It was like getting hit by a stone. The bottle was nearly full and weighed half a kilo and when someone throws it like that it's not nothing," he said in his post-race press conference at the Roubaix velodrome. The incident happened 37km from the end of the race on a cobbled mining road packed with fans, who had been out in the fields for hours. "Something should be done about it. People spitting and throwing things, it's too much and I'm going to ask for action to be taken," he said. "I hope we can identify who did it and take action." Van der Poel was spat upon at the recent E3 Saxo Classic in Belgium, where he was roundly booed by an unruly section of the Belgian fans. He has frequently had urine thrown at him on the cyclocross circuit and also had a confrontation with a fan in a spitting incident in 2024. Van der Poel was himself arrested after a run-in with teenagers who he accused of playing 'knock-a-door-run' on his hotel door on the eve of the 2022 world championship race, for which he was the favourite. CCTV images showed Van der Poel dressed only in underwear chasing the teenagers back to their room. He pulled out of the race after 50km having spent the night at a police station. dmc/nf/iwd
Telegraph
06-04-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Tour of Flanders: Latest race updates as Pogacar and Van der Poel do battle in Belgium
The second Monument one-day race of the year is here, the Tour of Flanders. It is set to be a duel between defending champion Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates). What happens when an immoveable object comes up against an unstoppable force? We will know in about six hours' time. Van der Poel is the defending champion and looked in fearsome form as he rode everyone off his wheel to win the E3 Saxo Classic midweek. He is punchy, durable and fast in a sprint, as he also showed when he beat Pogacar at Milan-Sanremo a few weeks ago in the latest juicy battle between these stars. Pogacar is the dominant force in professional cycling at the moment, able to challenge in any race, flat, hilly or mountainous. It will favour the reigning world champion to have his team-mates make the race as fast and hard as possible; the harder, the better for him. If he can get rid of three-time winner Van der Poel and company, as he has done so often in previous seasons, he will probably win this. Easier said than done. There are in-form outsiders like Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike). British hopes rest on Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious), who has finished in the top-ten twice before her,e and young Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers). They'll do very well to contend; it looks like a two-man tussle. Anyone who says Belgium is flat has never ridden the Tour of Flanders. Over 269 kilometres, the Ronde van Vlaanderen (to use its local name) heads south-east from the start in Brugge into the Flemish Ardennes and its proliferation of punchy, cobbled climbs (known as bergs), finishing in Oudenaarde. There are 16 of those blighters on the route, but the race will likely be decided in the last 50km, with the wickedly-steep Koppenberg whittling the lead pack down befere the repetition of the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg, with sections at 20 percent gradient, to finish off the race and its competitors. This is like Grand National day meets Glastonbury in Belgium, a sporting event, a riotous party and cultural mainstay in one, with approximately a million Belgians cheering on the riders roadside. Many of them no doubt combining two of Belgium's favourite national pasttimes: cycling and beer.
NBC Sports
01-04-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Welcome to the Hell of the North: 3-time Tour champion Pogacar to make Paris-Roubaix debut
PARIS — Welcome to the Hell of the North, Tadej Pogacar. The three-time Tour de France champion from Slovenia will take part for the first time in Paris-Roubaix, the grueling cycling classic over cobblestones held in northern France next month, his team said on Wednesday. Pogacar will seek to become the first Tour de France champion to win in Roubaix since cycling great Bernard Hinault back in 1981. 'Paris-Roubaix is a challenge worthy of his talent. It's far from a guaranteed victory because he will face a course that doesn't suit him naturally, but I think that's exactly what drives him — the chance to make cycling history,' said Paris-Roubaix race director Thierry Gouvenou. 'This is a huge moment for cycling.' It was initially planned for Pogacar, the reigning men's road world champion, to compete in both the E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem this week. He scrapped both events from his race program to prepare for the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, which are part of the five 'monuments' in one-day cycling alongside Liège–Bastogne–Liège, the Tour of Lombardy and Milan-San Remo. Pogacar has seven monuments under his belt already — the Tour of Flanders once, Liège–Bastogne–Liège twice and the Tour of Lombardy four times. The UAE Team Emirates squad said Pogacar adjusted his calendar 'to focus on the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix instead, aiming for peak form in those iconic races.' Launched in 1896, the Paris-Roubaix is generally filled with punctures, crashes and other drama. It is known in French as the Enfer du Nord — the Hell of the North. The nickname is said to have been coined in 1919 by a journalist to describe the shelled and destroyed World War One wastelands the race picked its way through. It took that year's winner, Henri Pelissier, more than 12 hours to reach Roubaix, more than twice as long as it took last year's male champion Mathieu van der Poel. Pogacar the new Merckx Paris-Roubaix is one of the few big titles missing from Pogacar's already impressive collection of silverware. The 26-year-old athlete is arguably the most exciting rider of his generation, capable of winning on all terrains with an appetite for victory that has drawn comparisons with the great Eddy Merckx. Although he has never ridden Paris-Roubaix before, Pogacar got a taste of the race's cobblestones during the crash-marred fifth stage of the 2022 Tour de France. He enjoyed a sensational trip that day, gaining time on many of his rivals at the end of a ride over some of the feared cobbles of the brutal classic. Van der Poel, who defeated Pogacar at Milan San Remo last week, will again be among the main Paris-Roubaix contenders this year. Organizers of the race have added new sections of cobbles to the course. They will be on the road leading to the infamous Trouée d'Arenberg, a long, straight section of cobbles particularly tough to handle. 'By introducing them here, it provides us with a sequence of five sectors without virtually any tarmac,' Gouvenou said. This year's 259.2-kilometer (161-mile) men's race between Compiègne and Roubaix features 30 cobbled sections covering a total of 55.3 kilometers (34 miles). Organizers also said they had found an alternative to the controversial switchback that was installed for security reasons last year, to reduce the speed of riders leading into the Trouée d'Arenberg. The sharp U-turn had been criticized by some riders, including van der Poel. The route of the 148.5-kilometer (92-mile) women's race has not been modified. The women's peloton will tackle the last 17 sections of the men's race, totaling 29.2 km (18 miles) of cobbles.
Arab News
26-03-2025
- Sport
- Arab News
Tour de France champion Pogacar targets Paris-Roubaix's cobbled ‘hell'
'It was initially planned for Tadej Pogacar to participate in both the E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem,' read UAE's statement For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport
NBC Sports
26-03-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Tadej Pogacar to make Paris-Roubaix debut
PARIS — Welcome to the Hell of the North, Tadej Pogacar. The three-time Tour de France champion from Slovenia will take part for the first time in Paris-Roubaix, the grueling cycling classic over cobblestones held in northern France, his team said. Pogacar will seek to become the first Tour de France champion to win in Roubaix since cycling great Bernard Hinault back in 1981. 'Paris-Roubaix is a challenge worthy of his talent. It's far from a guaranteed victory because he will face a course that doesn't suit him naturally, but I think that's exactly what drives him — the chance to make cycling history,' said Paris-Roubaix race director Thierry Gouvenou. 'This is a huge moment for cycling.' It was initially planned for Pogacar, the reigning men's road world champion, to compete in both the E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem this week. He scrapped both events from his race program to prepare for the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, which are part of the five 'monuments' in one-day cycling alongside Liège–Bastogne–Liège, the Tour of Lombardy and Milan-San Remo. Pogacar has seven monuments under his belt already — the Tour of Flanders once, Liège–Bastogne–Liège twice and the Tour of Lombardy four times. The UAE Team Emirates squad said Pogacar adjusted his calendar 'to focus on the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix instead, aiming for peak form in those iconic races.' Launched in 1896, the Paris-Roubaix is generally filled with punctures, crashes and other drama. It is known in French as the Enfer du Nord — the Hell of the North. The nickname is said to have been coined in 1919 by a journalist to describe the shelled and destroyed World War One wastelands the race picked its way through. It took that year's winner, Henri Pelissier, more than 12 hours to reach Roubaix, more than twice as long as it took last year's male champion Mathieu van der Poel. Pogacar the new Merckx Paris-Roubaix is one of the few big titles missing from Pogacar's already impressive collection of silverware. The 26-year-old athlete is arguably the most exciting rider of his generation, capable of winning on all terrains with an appetite for victory that has drawn comparisons with the great Eddy Merckx. Although he has never ridden Paris-Roubaix before, Pogacar got a taste of the race's cobblestones during the crash-marred fifth stage of the 2022 Tour de France. He enjoyed a sensational trip that day, gaining time on many of his rivals at the end of a ride over some of the feared cobbles of the brutal classic. Van der Poel, who defeated Pogacar at Milan San Remo, will again be among the main Paris-Roubaix contenders this year. Organizers of the race have added new sections of cobbles to the course. They will be on the road leading to the infamous Trouée d'Arenberg, a long, straight section of cobbles particularly tough to handle. 'By introducing them here, it provides us with a sequence of five sectors without virtually any tarmac,' Gouvenou said. This year's 161-mile men's race between Compiègne and Roubaix features 30 cobbled sections covering a total of 34 miles. Organizers also said they had found an alternative to the controversial switchback that was installed for security reasons last year, to reduce the speed of riders leading into the Trouée d'Arenberg. The sharp U-turn had been criticized by some riders, including van der Poel. The route of the 92-mile women's race has not been modified. The women's peloton will tackle the last 17 sections of the men's race, totaling 18 miles of cobbles.
