Based on what Pogacar told teammate Vermeersch, it’s clear that Roubaix won’t be his downfall

Florian Vermeersch once again put in a very strong performance on Sunday in the classic race that suits him best. The Belgian rider from UAE Emirates-XRG finished fifth in Paris-Roubaix, where team leader and fellow teammate Tadej Pogacar managed to claim second place. “We came here to win, and that didn’t happen, but I think in a few days I’ll be satisfied,” he said.

Vermeersch was at the front from the very first cobbled section and was ultimately rewarded for it at the finish line, but he still rode part of the race with the brakes on. “Up to the Forest of Wallers, I didn’t have to expend much energy, and I was well-positioned in the Forest too, but when Tadej broke away, I mainly tried to make sure they didn’t come back,” he told the written press at the Roubaix velodrome.

“I have mixed feelings about it,” the Belgian had already admitted a bit earlier to Sporza. “I had incredible legs, but I had to limit myself to following in the background because Tadej was up front. I feel really good. I don’t feel completely exhausted. That may sound silly, but I had amazing legs. A second and a fifth place is too bad, considering. But in the coming days, I’ll be satisfied.”

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Vermeersch spoke with Pogacar: "Spare wheel was broken too"

The Belgian had a brief word with his team leader at the velodrome after the finish. “I feel really bad for him that he finishes second due to bad luck. Maybe it was his own fault, I don’t know. It’s just unfortunate for the team: we rode a good race, and then to lose because of bad luck is a shame. What did he tell me? He had crashed, and on his spare bike, the wheel was broken too, so he had to switch again,” said Vermeersch.

“Will we see him again next year? He said ‘we’ll come back,’ so I do think he has unfinished business. It always helps if you’ve raced here once before, and this edition was ideal for him, with a race that opened up early and all that.” The final verdict was therefore cautiously positive: “We came here to win, and that didn’t happen. Everyone was scared because it had rained and it was going to be dangerous, which was rightly so. There was quite a bit of mud.”

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Vermeersch battled Van Aert and Pedersen

The Belgian pulled away from the rest of the field together with Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen. “It makes sense that I wasn’t allowed to take over or try to close the gap,” he said. “I tried again at the Carrefour de l’Arbre to drop them, but the gap wasn’t big enough. Then it became clear that I had to sprint, but if you have to sprint against two giants who have won bunch sprints in the Tour, then you know it’s going to be tough. I knew I would finish fifth if I reached the finish line with those two,” said Vermeersch.

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