Why was Tadej Pogacar in Roubaix in a week with wet and dangerous cobbles? "That's quite a risky" stunned local argues
Cycling
This Tuesday, before making the trip to Spain for their training camp in Benidorm, Spain; Tadej Pogacar and a few of his teammates made the trip to northern France to test material and further explore the cobbled sectors of Paris-Roubaix. This was to the delight of a few local cyclists, however there was surprise that this was done under bad weather conditions.
French news outlet La Voix du Nord knew of the testing day and was following along with the team's training, and on the way so were a few lucky fans who were caught by surprise. Jean-Luc Gallus was one of them, a local rider who happened to recognize a few figures he sees on TV ride right in front of him.
"As I got closer, I recognized Tim Wellens's Belgian champion's jersey. Then I saw the rainbow bike and realized it was Pogacar," he told. "I asked him if I could take a picture. He said it was no problem at all, and he even posed for me."
What followed was a morning the local rider certainly won't ever forget, and almost escaped the eyes of the media. Pogacar, Nils Politt, Florian Vermeersch and Tim Wellens were present in the roads of the 'Hell of the North', confirming their intention to race the monument in April of next year, and forming what is likely the key block around the World Champion.
Wet and muddy cobblestones. A necessary risk?
"I heard them talking. They were going back towards Cysoing to take on the Bourghelles cobblestones and return via l'Arbre. He was surprised." On the Carrefour de l'Arbre, Pogacar was testing along equipment as Wout van Aert did a few weeks back. However van Aert - who even shared first-hand video footage of his recon - had different and better conditions.
Gallus was surprises that the World Champion was going through the motions in Roubaix on that particular day taking into consideration the particularly bad state of the cobblestones at this time. “That's quite a risky undertaking in the middle of winter. It's been raining a lot lately. The cobblestones are wet and there are muddy sections.”
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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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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