"I honestly didn't think Pogacar would come so soon" - Tour de France director excited about Tadej Pogacar's Paris-Roubaix participation
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar made clear that he'll participate at Paris-Roubaix for the first time this season. With the ambition to win. There are still bigger favourites for the Hell of the North, however the three-time Tour de France champion has already shown that cobbles are not an obstacle for him.
For the director of the Grande Boucle, Christian Prudhomme, it's simply "fantastic to see the last Tour winner at the start" of the monument. It's not every day that a Tour champion turns up to ride the hardest cobbled race on the calendar. The more so a defending champion. In fact, it's something that hasn't happened for thirty years.
Last Tour de France winner to start at Paris-Roubaix would be 2012 champion Bradley Wiggins who finished 9th on that occasion. If Pogacar were to repeat this feat, it would certainly count as a solid debut.
"I honestly didn't think Pogacar would come so soon. When he was training in Arenberg, it was clear that his team's communication was intentional, but I didn't think he'd come now. It's crazy," added the Tour de France director according to Marca.
In this sense, Prudhomme has no doubts about the world champion's performance in Roubaix: "We already saw what he was capable of on the cobblestones in 2022, at the Tour de France on the Arenberg stage. He went with Stuyven and managed to escape. We were happy to have Bradley Wiggins at the start in 2014, after winning the Tour in 2012. Now, we are back on top, as Pogacar will be there to win."
Asked whether he'll be able to finish first at the Roubaix velodrome, the Tour de France boss doesn't dare to guess: "Mathieu van der Poel is still the favorite, of course, but we're going to see an incredible fight, especially because Pogacar is so daring. He's so daring, all the time. We're eagerly awaiting the race."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- JV is really slighting himself with not doing the 1 dayers.. 🤷
leedorney02-11-2026 - Watch the interview on youtube. I don't speak French. I do speak English and Spanish and you can hear it in his voice. Years ago LeMond had real personal problems I imagine in no small part because of Armstrong. then Armstrong goes round "full blast" re: LeMond having drinking and drug problems. The same way Andreu was expelled from mainstream cycling so was LeMond. On the positive side the clips of the ride and chatting with old teammates and was good. To seemed like a fun day and experience and good reason brush up his French.atom02-11-2026
- and another no-news article around the ‚2 tokyo jogging rounds‘ headline, this time spiced with some days old ‚news‘ that the LA and japan vacation trips come during or after the tdf route release. i am getting more and more annoyed by this time-stealing no-news crap. but who am i to complain? nobody forces me to come back for more ‚news‘ day after day …Ketterechts02-11-2026
- It would likely be a very steep section of 4.1 km, not changing the average gradient considerably, with the climb remaining 10.1 km at 11.8%. It would reach 20% on the gravel. It would start 1.6 km in, and finish with 4.2 km left to climb (before the short final descent)
Rafionain-Glas02-11-2026 - Welcome to the off-season.
santiagobenites02-11-2026 - guillaume martin in this list is quite a surprise as a gc rider.Ketterechts02-11-2026
- Who cares what Bruyneel thinks. He and his best mate Lance, the biggest fraud in the history of sport, have no place commenting on anything but how to lie and cheat!whit2pet02-11-2026
- Eeesh!Lozza02-11-2026
- bravo! a rider likes jonas needs motivation and he needs to believe in being able to reach goals. he - like anybody else in the world - doesn't believe that he can win the tdf with pogi present. and what's it worth for when pogi is not there? second class victory only. he has checked all three grand tours, so what is left if not retire? the classics! go for it, jonas!Ketterechts02-11-2026
- i am sure that under the pretext of medical examination a lot worse has happened when they were under.abstractengineer02-11-2026
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