By no means shy about sharing his opinions – good or unhealthy – on riders and different groups, longstanding Groupama-FDJ supervisor Marc Madiot was surprisingly complimentary on Tadej Pogačar on the Vélo d’Or awards on Friday evening.
On the occasion held in Paris, Pogačar was awarded two trophies to shut his superlative 2025 season, which included a fourth Tour de France title, a second consecutive rainbow jersey on the World Championships in Rwanda, the European highway title, a fifth straight Il Lombardia win, and lots of different victories. The UAE Workforce Emirates-XRG rider additionally took the wins within the one-day races Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
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For Madiot, a French winner of Paris-Roubaix in 1985, seeing Pogačar take the beginning at Paris-Roubaix was a “lovely image,” and one thing he was “hopeful” to see.
Madiot couldn’t resist including, with a sly smile, that “at first look, I am not an enormous fan of Tadej Pogačar, my chouchou is Wout [van Aert], for me, he is the last word rider.”
“However I am impressed by Tadej’s psychological energy,” he continued in feedback shared by L’Equipe on social media. “When he commits to a race, he by no means misses a chance, and what I actually admire about him – one thing that hasn’t been demonstrated by earlier Tour de France winners in recent times – is his sense of historical past. He has a deep understanding of his sport. And when a rider of his calibre and standing respects and commits to the foremost occasions in his sport, we now have to present him credit score, encourage him, and assist him.”
“Occasionally within the press, folks say, ‘Sure, if he does Paris-Roubaix, he’ll take dangers within the Tour.”
“No. No,” Madiot emphasised.
“I feel that in his life, successful Roubaix can be simply as necessary as successful the Tour as a result of he is steeped within the very essence of biking. And for that cause, we should encourage him on this route.”
Pogačar stated that each Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix – two races lacking from his palmares – could be a part of his program for 2026.
