Tadej Pogačar carried out a surprise 160km reconnaissance of the Paris-Roubaix cobbles on Tuesday, in a further indication that the UAE Team Emirates-XRG racer plans to return to the 'Hell of the North' in 2026, following his impressive debut in the race last April.
The World Champion was spotted near the key cobbled sector of Carrefour de l'Arbre of Paris-Roubaix by a local cyclist and the French and Flemish media soon revealed more details of his day in northern France.
Interestingly, photographs taken by fans and local media indicated that Pogačar tested both his Colnago Y1RS aero bike and the V5RS bike he used at this year's Paris-Roubaix. A UAE team mechanic was on hand as riders tested different tyre pressures and equipment.
Pogačar trained on the Paris-Roubaix cobbles with Tim Wellens, Gianni Vermeersch and Nils Politt, the core of the UAE Team Emirates-XRG Classics squad.
According to Politt's Strava data, they trained for five hours, covering a total of 160 km, including eight laps of the often decisive Camphin-en-Pévèle and Carrefour de l'Arbre cobbled sectors.
Pogačar also made an evening trip to a hairdresser's in Waregem, across the border in Belgium, before likely travelling on to Spain to the UAE Team Emirates-XRG winter training camp in Benidorm.
Pogačar will reveal his 2026 goals on Saturday. He is expected to again target the Tour de France and World Championships in Montreal, with Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix amongst his spring Classics goals. They are the two Classics Pogačar has still to win.
He made his Paris-Roubaix debut in 2025 as part of a full Classic campaign. He finished second to Mathieu van der Poel after going wide and crashing on a cobbled corner, but nonetheless seemed to love racing on the French pave.
