Tadej Pogachar arrived in Belgium to make his professional debut in the cobbled spring classic and take a "step into the unknown" for Sunday's Tour de Flanders.

The Tour de France champion arrived in Belgium late Monday night and made a brief reconnaissance of Wednesday's Doire de Flenderen route with his teammates Tuesday morning.

While his rival Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma) and other leading Tour de Flanders riders were training instead of competing in the Douars de Vlaanderen, the UAE Team Emirates team leader was able to train for the 183km between Roselare and Wallaigem. race will test his skills as a Flemishman. He has not raced since finishing fifth in Milan-San Remo.

Pogachar will be supported by experienced UAE Team Emirates Road Captain Matteo Trentin, Alexis Brunel, Mikkel Bjarg, Vegard Stake Rengen, Rui Oliveira and Oliviero Troia.

The same seven have been selected for Sunday's Tour of Flanders, with Pogachar, who was dominant in the UAE Tour, Strade Bianche, and Tirreno Adriatico, being the outside favorite.

"I was really looking forward to coming to Flanders. The history and passion of cycling in Belgium is unique and I can't wait to be a part of it," Pogachar said via UAE Team Emirates after his first taste of the cobbles of Flanders.

"I'm in good shape and hopefully I'll be up there, but I have no illusions about the cobblestones: I know it's a different race than usual. But I want to absorb everything and enjoy it as much as possible."

"My teammate Matteo Trentin knows this classic better than anyone else. It's a step into the unknown, but I'm really looking forward to it."

A deeper look at Pogachal's results shows that he is no stranger to the Nordic cobbles, having competed around the continent as a junior rider and under-23 rider before joining UAE Team Emirates in 2019.

Pogachar competed in the junior version of Paris-Roubaix twice, finishing 14th in 2016. He also competed in the under-23 Ghent-Wevelgem in 2017 and the under-23 Ronde van Fraenden Velofte in 2018, finishing 15th in the chase group, six seconds behind James Whelan, the sole winner.

His solo victory in Strade Bianche proved that he has the bike skills and WorldTour prowess to take on Van Aert, Mathieu Van Der Pol, and anyone else. His only weakness is his experience and understanding of complex race routes where positioning and timing can make a big difference.

Like Biniam Girmay of Ghent-Wevelgem, Pogachar relies on the support of his teammates and road captain Matteo Trentin.

"I think Tadej will have a good run here.

"I enjoy running with him and I have no doubt he will be strong. I believe we are a group that can do well. Hopefully we can get as many of them as possible to go deep into the finals.

Trentin improved early in the season and won the tough cobbled Le Samin race.

"I'm still not back to my best after the crash, but I'm optimistic about Flanders. I know the race well and that is very important in the Classics."