POLL: Will Tadej Pogacar race Paris-Roubaix in 2025?

165 kilometers on the cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix this past weekend. Tadej Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates - XRG will not confirm that Tadej Pogacar has intentions of racing Paris-Roubaix this year. But the question is if the World Champion is really planning to make his debut in the 'Hell of the North' in two months' time or not.

It is a question where the answers are quite mixed. Pogacar made a trip to Western Europe this weekend to do a recon of the Tour of Flanders route, which he will be racing this spring as one of his big goals. However the next day, he and Tim Wellens - together with DS Fabio Baldato - have reconned the Paris-Roubaix route.

Nils Politt and António Morgado were also meant to be there, but illnesses did not allow it. It was an official exploration of the route with Tim Wellens who is seemingly set to race it as well. Pogacar's presence could've been just a reminder of the route, or a relaxed training ride, but one would argue that not many riders will have a relaxed ride on the brutal cobbled sectors of the area.

Pogacar also rode through several cobbled sectors in the region back in 2022, but that year the Tour de France had a stage in the area - where Pogacar gained time on his rivals. This year the Tour does not have a cobbled stage. Some believe that Pogacar may have the plan of racing Roubaix, but the team is not adding that pressure or obligation to him, and it can be something to be decided only on the days leading up to the race - similar to Wout van Aert's surprise Cyclocross World Championships announcement. Pogacar in the meantime has returned to home in Monaco, before travelling to the UAE later this week.

Through the information that has been provided over the past two months, we can access that Pogacar will race the Vuelta a España later this year, but that equally this is an information that was not publicly confirmed - but with a great degree of certainty, it will be shared before the upcoming UAE Tour. So the question remains, should Pogacar race Roubaix?

Many believe that doing so is a big risk, as the French monument is one of the most tense and dangerous races in the calendar. It can be argued as well that over the opening weeks of the racing calendar, crashes have been a constant in both men's and women's peloton. and the Slovenian runs similar risk in all other events.

Mathieu van der Poel, two-time reigning champion, has commented on this possibility: "If he joins us like in the Tour of Flanders, he will be a tough opponent. But I don't lose any sleep over it."