Tadej Pogacar to go head-to-head against Jonas Vingegaard at Paris-Nice but will skip Strade-Bianche

Tadej Pogacar will miss this year’s Strade-Bianche as he has decided to race in Paris-Nice, meaning he will go head-to-head against Jonas Vingegaard.

It’s the first time the pair have met at a WorldTour stage race since their thrilling battle at last year’s Tour de France, which was won by Vingegaard.

The only occasions they raced each other after the Tour de France was Il Lombardia, where Pogacar was victorious and Vingegaard was 16th.

“It was a hard choice because Strade and Paris-Nice looked like a really interesting challenge but I think this challenge can wait a bit,” Pogacar told Sporza.

“If I want to be really good in Paris-Nice, which I’ve never done before and it’s a super hard race, the team time trial will be important and we need to spend a few days before the race together.

“If I do Strade-Bianche that’s impossible, I’d go to the team time trial without any knowledge of the group and don’t think it’s work.”

Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Simon Yates (Team Jayco AlUla) are among the other big names competing.

Pogacar confirmed he will race Milan-San Remo on March 29, the Tour of Flanders on April 2 and is expected to compete in the Ardennes Classics later in April.

“From now it’ll only be hard, important races,” the two-time Tour de France champion said.

“I’ll try to be good in the Classics, especially Milan-San Remo and Flanders. And then all eyes are on the Tour.”

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