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.
Pogacar is not only likely heading to #ParisRoubaix at this point, but he'll also race the RVV, with his last cobbled race being the 2023 RVV. No prep.
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) March 25, 2025
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- Are you MrMauMau 2.0? Nothing you are saying is really relevant. Vaguely connected, but irrelevant. The conversation is whether Schreiber impeded Brand or not.
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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