Tadej Pogacar has won Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, and the Tour of Flanders in 2026 without a single defeat. If he wins Paris-Roubaix on April 12, he will have achieved a spring Classics sweep that no rider in the modern era has come close to matching. To understand how extraordinary this run is, you have to go back decades—and even then, the comparisons fall short.
The 27-year-old UAE Team Emirates rider has not just been winning these races. He has been dominating them, often attacking from distance and daring the field to follow. His third Tour of Flanders victory cemented a record that already included back-to-back Strade Bianche wins and a Milan-San Remo palmares that now rivals the all-time greats. The question is no longer whether Pogacar is the best rider in the world. It is whether his 2026 spring represents the greatest Classics campaign in cycling history.
The Campaigns That Set the Standard
To evaluate Pogacar’s 2026 spring, we need to compare it against the benchmark Classics seasons from cycling’s greatest champions. Several campaigns stand out.
Eddy Merckx’s 1971 spring remains the gold standard by which all Classics campaigns are measured. The Belgian won Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and Het Volk in a single spring, along with numerous smaller races. Merckx’s versatility was unmatched—he could win on the flat roads of northern Belgium, the hills of the Ardennes, and the long roads of Italy. But the depth of competition and the physical demands of modern cycling were fundamentally different in 1971. Riders raced fewer total days but with less scientific preparation, nutrition, and recovery.
Roger De Vlaeminck’s 1977 campaign saw the Belgian win a record fourth Paris-Roubaix alongside victories in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Gent-Wevelgem, and the Scheldeprijs. De Vlaeminck’s specialization in the cobbled Classics was unmatched, but he never dominated the Italian Classics or hilly Monuments the way Merckx—or Pogacar—could.
More recently, Fabian Cancellara’s 2010 spring stands out. The Swiss rider won the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in the same spring—a double that remains cycling’s most coveted one-two punch. But Cancellara never won Milan-San Remo or Strade Bianche (which did not exist as a WorldTour race during his peak), making his spring narrower in scope than Pogacar’s 2026 run.
Tom Boonen’s 2012 season saw the Belgian win E3 Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem, the Tour of Flanders, and finish second at Paris-Roubaix. It was a comprehensive campaign on the cobbled Classics circuit, but Boonen—like De Vlaeminck—was a northern specialist who did not compete for the Italian races.
What Makes Pogacar’s 2026 Different
The distinguishing factor in Pogacar’s spring is range. He has won across three fundamentally different race types: a dusty, punchy gravel-influenced road race (Strade Bianche), a flat 300-kilometer monument that typically ends in a sprint (Milan-San Remo), and a hilly cobbled classic requiring explosive power on short, steep climbs (Tour of Flanders). No other modern rider has won all three in the same spring.
The manner of his victories adds another dimension. At Strade Bianche, he attacked 50 kilometers from the finish on the steep Montalcino sector. At Milan-San Remo, he surged on the Poggio and held off the sprinters in a performance that recalled his 2024 victory. At Flanders, he broke the race apart on the Paterberg—the same climb where he has built his cobbled reputation over three consecutive victories.
This attacking style sets Pogacar apart from many previous Classics champions. Where riders like Boonen and Cancellara often won through sustained high power in the final kilometers, Pogacar wins from further out, using his exceptional climbing ability and recovery to create decisive gaps on terrain where pure sprinters and rouleurs cannot follow.
The Roubaix Question
Paris-Roubaix presents the biggest remaining challenge. The 258-kilometer race with its 30 cobbled sectors demands a different skillset than any of Pogacar’s 2026 victories so far. The pavé of northern France is rougher, longer, and more punishing than Flanders’ climbs. Mechanical problems, punctures, and crashes play a larger role. And the defending champion, Mathieu van der Poel, is arguably the best Roubaix rider of his generation.
But writing off Pogacar would be foolish. He finished second at Roubaix in 2024 and has steadily improved his cobbled technique each season. His team’s equipment preparation—wider tires, suspension-enhanced handlebars, and optimized tire pressures—has been class-leading. And his physical condition after Flanders appears to be at an absolute peak.
What Amateur Riders Can Take Away
While Pogacar’s physical gifts place him in a category of his own, his approach to the Classics offers lessons for riders at every level.
His willingness to attack from distance contradicts the conventional wisdom that energy conservation is always optimal. In amateur races and sportives, riders who take calculated risks—bridging to breakaways, attacking on climbs where they have an advantage, or increasing tempo when competitors show fatigue—often achieve better results than those who ride reactively. The key word is calculated: Pogacar attacks when he senses weakness in his rivals, not randomly.
His cross-discipline versatility also carries a training lesson. Pogacar’s ability to win on gravel, flat roads, and cobbled hills reflects a balanced training approach that develops multiple energy systems. For amateur riders, this means mixing your training—combining zone 2 endurance work with high-intensity intervals, strength training, and technical skills practice. Riders who train only one system plateau faster than those who develop a broad fitness base.
Finally, Pogacar’s seasonal planning deserves attention. His early-season form has been exceptional for three years running, suggesting that his winter preparation is meticulous. Rather than arriving at the first race underprepared and building fitness through competition—a common amateur approach—Pogacar arrives at Strade Bianche in February already at near-peak condition. For any rider with target events in spring, beginning structured training 12 to 16 weeks before those events, rather than hoping to ride into form, produces dramatically better results.
The Verdict After Roubaix
Come April 12, we will know whether Pogacar’s 2026 spring stands as the greatest Classics campaign of all time or merely one of the greatest. Either outcome cements his status as the most versatile one-day racer of his generation—and arguably any generation. The cobblestones of northern France will deliver the final verdict.
