Tadej Pogacar removed from E3 startlist as route towards Paris-Roubaix becomes more clear

It is becoming more and more likely that Tadej Pogacar will indeed make his Paris-Roubaix debut in 2025. The latest development in the saga of the world champion and the cobbles has seen the UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader removed from the preliminary startlist for the 2025 E3 Saxo Classic.

It had been expected that Pogacar would do battle with Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel among others on March 28th. With the preliminary startlist for the Belgian classic coming to light though, the Slovenian is notable by his absence from the UAE Team Emirates - XRG lineup of Filippo Baroncini, Mikkel Bjerg, Rune Herregodts, Jhonatan Narvaez, Nils Politt and Tim Wellens. Although it must be noted that their is still a name missing from the seven-man lineup of UAE, according to the latest reports that won't be Tadej Pogacar. 

“We will have to wait and see what the removal of Pogacar’s name from the provisional list of participants actually means,” the E3 Saxo Classic's organizer Jacques Coussens said of the situation in conversation with HLN. “But we are very happy that all the other top riders, such as Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel, will definitely be at the start.”

As mentioned, with Pogacar's debut on the iconic French cobbles of Paris-Roubaix, it is a long-running story in the cycling world throughout 2025 so far. It is now expected that Pogacar will compete at the Tour of Flanders, having not raced competitively on the surface since 2023. Another fact worth noting, is that Pogacar is now likely to become the first reigning Tour de France champion to do battle at Paris-Roubaix since Greg LeMond more than three decades ago in 1991, showing the incredible rarity of what could be about to happen in the coming weeks and months.