For weeks, there were rumors about a possible participation by the three-time tour of France winner Tadej Pogacar at the classic cycling Paris-Roubaix. Although his team initially denied a start, there is now the official statement: Pogacar starts for the first time in the “Hell of the North” and meets world champion Mathieu van der Poel.
There are five so -called monuments in cycling – Radstar Tadej Pogacar has already participated in four of the big classics. In 2025 he now made this list fully with his debut at Paris-Roubaix.
In February, the three -time winner of the Tour de France heated up the rumor mill by posting a picture of a training session on Instagram. Not somewhere, but in the forest of Arenberg – a key point of the classic, which is known for its notorious cobblestone sections.
They may also have been the reason why there was little enthusiasm for Pogacar’s team UAE about the Slovenes’ plans. “Paris-Roubaix is currently not in the plans that we have with him,” said Marco Marcato, head of the UAE Emirates, on the sidelines of the Tour of Oman to the Dutch portal “Wielerflits.nl”.
But Pogacar has probably prevailed. Because UAE Emirates-XRG announced Pogacar’s participation in Paris-Roubaix on April 13 on Wednesday.
Cycling: Three duels between Pogacar and van der Poel
In 2025 there will be three monument duels between Pogacar and the reigning world champion Mathieu van der Poel. The Dutch prevailed against Pogacar near Milan-Sanremo, Pogacar landed on the podium as the third. A good week before the “Hell of the North”, the two bike giants meet on April 06 on April 6th.
Pogacar has so far collected seven victories in the monuments of cycling in his career: four victories on the Lombardy tour, two at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and one on the tour of the Flanders. At Paris-Roubaix, the Slovenian could add another victory to his already huge collection.
Van der Poel will not make it easy for him. Because the Dutch not only beat Pogacar in San Remo, but is also unbeaten in the last two editions in Roubaix.
Pogacar had to change his racing calendar a bit to start at the classic. In contrast to the original planning, the E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem, both of which will be held at the end of March, are no longer included in the Slovenian program.