He crushed the Tour de France. Now he’s going to hell.

The best bike race in the world is a matter of subjectivity. In my opinion, it’s not the Tour de France, or Dolomite climbs of the Giro d’Italia, or Bloomington, Indiana’s Little 500, made famous in “Breaking Away"—it’s Paris-Roubaix, a punishing one-day butt-kicker across the cobblestoned cow paths of northern France.

Ready to launch its 122nd edition on Sunday, April 13, Paris-Roubaix runs about 260 kilometers (161 miles) over narrow, dusty, molar-rattling roads, some of them plowed when Napoleon was sticking lifts into his boots. It is a brutal afternoon, full of crashes, to say nothing of the constant smog of farmside dirt. When weary racers finish after 5½ hours, they look like muck-covered mole people who have been living underground for 20 years.

It’s known as “L’enfer du Nord": Hell of the North. Paris-Roubaix is one of the few sporting events where fans pray for rain, because mud makes it even crazier.

Winners don’t get a trophy. They get a rock.

That’s why it’s the best bike race in the world.

George Hincapie, center, during the 2002 Paris-Roubaix.

The best bike racer in the world isn’t a matter of dispute. His name is Tadej Pogacar, and he’s the reigning champion of the Tour de France, which he’s won three times, plus the Giro, the most recent road world championship, and a whole bunch of races around Europe. He’s a champ with rivals—the Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel, Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard—but without peer.

This isn’t some bold claim. Pogacar’s opponents will tell you: Nobody else can do all the things “Pogi" does on a bike. The floppy-haired Slovenian is a threat in the mountains, hills, time trials, sprints, everything. At 26, he’s chasing history. The only all-around rider who compares is Eddy Merckx, the ’60s icon known as the Cannibal. Merckx already said that Pogacar is “superior" to him, though he later pulled back on that generous compliment.

One of the items Merckx has over Pogacar: victories at Paris-Roubaix. To date, Pogacar has avoided the race, for a sensible reason: it’s risky. A contender needs to be lucky as well as good. Pile-ups are a matter of when, not if. An injury could spoil Pogacar’s lucrative summer season, which includes defending his Tour de France title.

He’s not the first elite rider to demur. A Tour de France winner hasn’t raced Paris-Roubaix in more than three decades. The last to do it was Greg LeMond, who did it multiple times in the ’80s and early ’90s, finishing as high as fourth in 1985.

Paris-Roubaix typically doesn’t favor a rider of Pogacar’s feathery size (he’s listed at 5-foot-9 and 145 pounds). It’s usually won by diesel machines like van der Poel, the defending two-time champ who uses his Gronk-like body to power over the cobbles.

A word about Paris-Roubaix’s cobbled byways: These aren’t the smooth, romantic alleys you wander when you take your sweetheart to the Left Bank. I’ve heard it said that Paris-Roubaix “sectors" look like someone dropped rocks from a tree. Riders are always getting tangled up in the tightest sections, scuttling the chances of those trapped behind.

Paris-Roubaix is cruel on bikes, too. American George Hincapie once crashed frighteningly when his handlebars became separated from his frame at a critical moment. To dampen vibration, racers experiment with wider tires and shock absorbers. Handlebars get wrapped like mummies.

It is for these reasons that cycling’s Yodas have long argued it wasn’t in Pogacar’s wisest interest to compete at Paris-Roubaix, even if Pogacar has shown enormous range in winning one day races like Strade Bianche and the Tour of Flanders, the Belgian classic which precedes Paris-Roubaix by a week.

Better to skip it, the belief went. Better to be safe.

Instead Pogacar will ignore the warnings and line up. He confirmed his participation on Wednesday. He’s long expressed a desire to compete at Paris-Roubaix, and he sent the internet into a tizzy this winter when he was filmed doing a reconnaissance ride of the course.

He won’t be the Paris-Roubaix favorite. That deservedly will be van der Poel, an experienced champ who knows the course and its hazards. Pogacar will be a rookie in a race with unexpected challenges, including equipment. A detail like tire pressure matters hugely—an inopportune flat tire will end an afternoon.

There’s also this: Van der Poel just beat Pogacar in a head-to-head sprint at the Milan-San Remo stage race. He’ll be expected to do the same if he and Pogacar find themselves dueling in the race’s final meters, which take place inside an old velodrome.

MVDP’s a truck. Pogacar’s a Lambo. At Paris-Roubaix, truck beats Lambo.

Still, it’s bike racing, an unpredictable sport with a habit of misfortune and storybook outcomes. Pogacar is capable of riding away from the pack early in races—he is likely to attack van der Poel and try to escape in a solo attack. He has shown grit, recently winning Strade Bianche flecked with blood after a major mid-race crash. He will be a factor, just by his presence.

I have no idea what’s going to happen. I’m still a little stunned it’s happening at all. The risks aren’t small. I assumed cooler heads would prevail.

Cooler heads haven’t prevailed.

This is why bike racing fans love that Tadej Pogacar is racing Paris-Roubaix. And so do I.

See you in Hell.