On Friday morning, the Ardennes region of Flanders was covered in snow and the cobblestones were soft and powdery as Tadej Pogachar made his final adjustments for the Tour de Flanders. Due to these conditions, several other teams cancelled their pre-race reconnaissance, but UAE Team Emirates went ahead with their reconnaissance as planned.

After all, Tadej Pogachar last visited Oude Kwaremont four years ago, when the temperature was about 15 C. In 2018, the Slovenian arrived in Oudenaarde at the end of the under-23 Tour of Flanders, six seconds behind the winner James Whelan He was part of the chase group.

"I remember I was cramping," he said. 'It was a hot day running for the national team. It was a nice day and I finished in a small group at the front, but I remember it wasn't great. But it's very different now."

Pogachal's status has indeed changed entirely. At the time, he was just one of many talented espoirs. Now he stands out among the current peloton, making his debut in the elite Tour de Flanders. As his metronomic dominance over the past two years attests, comparisons to Eddy Merckx are not hyperbole, but seem to be based on fact.

Despite his inexperience on this particular stage, Pogachar is listed as the frontrunner to win, a status that has only increased since it was discovered that pre-race favorite Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma) would be absent due to illness.

"It's going to be a crazy race, whether Wout is there or not," Pogachar said. 'You can't put a four-star on Sunday. But if we do everything perfectly, we can be at the top. For sure, I'm in good shape."

Pogachar's performance in Wednesday's Dwar do Hlaanderen confirmed this, but his first cobbled classic as a professional also highlighted his inexperience in this most specific genre of racing. After falling behind on the climb of Berg ten Foote, the 23-year-old had the victory in his sights by the time he broke back through the pack.

For the rest of the afternoon, Pogachar found himself in the unfamiliar position of chasing the race rather than picking it apart. He finished the day in tenth place, two minutes behind winner Mathieu Van Der Pol (Alpecin Phoenix). His first encounter with the cobblestones was, as expected, a culture shock.

"I had an idea of what it would be like, but it was like this. Nervous, hectic, some crashes, right and left, fighting for position, sprinting on small climbs ......" . Pogachar said. But Wednesday was a bit of a shock for my body and my mind. You always need to hold your position.

However, the Tour of Flanders is another race where Pogachar has already proven his mettle. In the past 12 months, he has conquered two of the five monuments (Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Lombardy) and the finale in Milan-San Remo. It is the huge distances of these competitions where Pogachar's endurance comes into play. In the Doire de Flenderen, there was a breathless battle for position over 184 kilometers. The Ronde, by contrast, is a 272-km war of attrition.

"I think the longer distance is a plus for me," Pogachar said. 'On the shorter climbs, it's really tricky and nerve-wracking, but I think the distance will help me a little bit.'

Pogachar can also rely on the advice and support of Matteo Trentin, who returned to racing last weekend after suffering a concussion in a crash in Paris-Nice. The Italians believe that Pogachal's lack of experience can be offset by the power he has.

"If something goes wrong, he has enough power to get back to where he needs to be. But of course, we'll work hard to make sure these problems don't happen."

On Monday, Pogachar will use his proximity to Allenberg to ride the cobblestones he will face on stage 5 of the Tour de France, but his participation in the Ronde is not just training for July. Pogachar said, "Maybe it's out of my comfort zone, but it's motivation to take on new challenges."

And although he confessed that his childhood in Slovenia was not inspired by the Tour of Flanders - "For us, it wasn't a holy week like here in Belgium," he smiled apologetically - Pogachar seemed to instantly understand the race's tenets. He seemed to understand the race's tenets immediately.

His biggest fear heading into Sunday is repeating the mistake he made in the Doire de Flenderen: "I don't want to be caught behind or out of position when the race starts."