Tadej Poga\u010dar barreled onto the fearsome Arenberg forest during a wild Paris-Roubaix recon ride with a smile plastered across his face.<\/p>\n
The reigning world champion was like a kid in a playground on cycling\u2019s most horrific roads as UAE Emirates-XRG rode key sectors of Sunday\u2019s Hell of the North.<\/p>\n
And he was just flying Thursday, topping 50kph on some sectors in the final countdown to Sunday\u2019s rumble at Roubaix.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack to the cobbles again, and then for a while not,\u201d Poga\u010dar said before riding off.<\/p>\n
Velo<\/em> was out on the cobbles Thursday, and UAE was among the earliest teams to get a real-time preview.<\/p>\n A brigade of motorbikes and team cars heralded his arrival, and Poga\u010dar led the team onto the notorious Arenberg trench at full speed.<\/p>\n Teammates were overheard yelling, \u201cNo crash! No crash!\u201d<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar is the five-star favorite on Sunday, along with three-time champion Mathieu van der Poel.<\/p>\n If Thursday\u2019s full-bore recon ride was any indication, the Slovenian won\u2019t be holding back.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to enjoy it, regardless of the result,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to a good race weekend. We have such a strong team with guys who have already reached the podium here, so I\u2019m not the only one who can achieve a result.\u201d<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar is on track to complete cycling\u2019s historic monument sweep if he wins Sunday, and Thursday\u2019s joy ride was his final preview of the building hype for the season\u2019s biggest and baddest race.<\/p>\n Last year, he defied convention to start Roubaix and nearly won. Many see Van der Poel as the only rival who can stop him. Bad luck, of course, counts for a lot in a race like Paris-Roubaix.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is no secret that Paris-Roubaix is one of the big goals at this stage of the season. The few races I have ridden so far have gone perfectly,\u201d he said Thursday. \u201cSo the motivation is very high, but the pressure is low.\u201d<\/p>\n Forecasted cross\/tailwinds could make for a fast and furious race on Sunday that would favor Poga\u010dar and increase his odds of becoming the first Tour de France winner to win Paris-Roubaix since Bernard Hinault in 1981.<\/p>\n If Paris-Roubaix isn\u2019t dangerous enough, officials say that thieves are snatching away the famous stones and are leaving gaping holes in the most dangerous sectors of the race course.<\/p>\n Crews were out Thursday and Friday across northern France to finalize race fencing and signage, and Belgian media reported that emergency teams were doing last-minute repairs on the damaged stretches of pav\u00e9<\/em>.<\/p>\n Course director Thierry Gouvenou told De Telegraaf<\/em> that theft of cobbles has become a growing problem over the past few years, as super fans are digging up and stealing their own chunk of granite for a souvenir.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something we\u2019ve been dealing with for several seasons, but now it\u2019s reaching a critical point,\u201d Gouvenou said.<\/p>\n On Thursday, Velo<\/em> spotted several gashes in the Arenberg Forest where it appeared stones had been removed.<\/p>\n Het Laastse Nieuws<\/em> photographed a member of the volunteer group \u201cLes Amis de Paris-Roubaix\u201d working to replace one stolen chunk.<\/p>\n Crews fill the holes with a mix of sand and cement in a temporary fix to at least make sure that cycling\u2019s most dangerous race won\u2019t be contested with a few extra divots in the already brutal roads.<\/p>\n Other teams out on the stones Thursday included Cofidis, men\u2019s and women\u2019s Lotto, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, and Tudor Pro Cycling. Most of the other teams were heading out on Friday.<\/p>\n Dozens of fans converged on sectors like the Arenberg and Carrefour de l\u2019Arbe to wait for hours for the passing teams.<\/p>\n At the Carrefour, fans used binoculars to spot approaching riders. \u201cLotto!\u201d a fan would yell out as dust billowed behind a trail of riders. A few moments later, the pros would rattle past.<\/p>\n Riders and teams focused on the choice sectors to have one final equipment check and inspect the cobbles in person.<\/p>\n Conditions on Thursday were dry, smooth, and fast. Forecasts are calling for a chance of light showers overnight Saturday, with mostly cloudy and cool conditions on race day, and increasing afternoon winds.<\/p>\n Teams were flying over the Arenberg, hitting top speeds of 50kph in the fast downhill run into the notorious 2.3km stretch.<\/p>\n At the Carrefour, riders who made it that far were showing fatigue from the effort.<\/p>\n Not all of the teams rode all the way to the velodrome, but Poga\u010dar and his crew delighted fans with their arrival.<\/p>\n Riders and teams are already bracing for Sunday\u2019s throwdown over the stones.<\/p>\n \u201cThe opening cobbled sectors have been slightly modified compared to last year, returning to the version used two years ago. There are four sectors back-to-back with almost no tarmac in between, followed by an additional sector with an uphill section,\u201d said Bahrain Victorious sport director Micha\u0142 Go\u0142a\u015b.<\/p>\n \u201cA tail-crosswind will make the first part fast and demanding, increasing the risk of splits,\u201d he said. \u201cThese early sectors will be even more dangerous due to the wind direction, which can accelerate the race significantly.\u201d<\/p>\n If the recon rides and weather forecasts are any indication, the racing will be fast and furious from the gun.<\/p>\n Perhaps in what could be a setback for Wout van Aert, the UCI will not allow Visma-Lease a Bike to race Sunday with the Gravaa tire pressure system.<\/p>\n Team officials confirmed they received notice that they cannot use the real-time tire pressure adjustment system, which was the latest technological innovation to hit cobbled racing.<\/p>\n \u201cWe received a letter two weeks ago with the message that the system will be banned until the end of the season,\u201d Heijboer said on the Dutch cycling podcast \u201cIn De Waair<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n The system allows riders to adjust tire pressure mid-race via handlebar buttons. Riders can lower tire pressure for better grip and comfort on cobbles, and then increase it again for speed and better rolling resistance on pavement.<\/p>\n Visma deployed it widely last spring, including at Roubaix, with Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot winning Paris-Roubaix Femmes last year.<\/p>\n The UCI\u2019s regulations require that any product used in competition must be commercially available to the public. Gravaa, the company behind the device, filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, but Heijboer said it is now up and running again, and the product is back in stock.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not enough for the UCI, and Visma-Lease a Bike was out on reconnaissance on Thursday, noticeably without the device.<\/p>\n Also Thursday, Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed that Marianne Vos will race Paris-Roubaix Femmes after missing the Tour of Flanders following her father\u2019s death.<\/p>\n Defending champion Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot will also start Sunday after changing her mind with a strong showing at Flanders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/paris-roubaix-recon-stolen-cobbles-banned-tech-pogacar-sends-warning\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/roubaixrcon.jpg”] Andrew Hood Updated April 10, 2026 06:34AM Tadej Poga\u010dar barreled onto the fearsome Arenberg forest during a wild Paris-Roubaix recon ride with a smile plastered across his face. The reigning world champion was like a kid in a playground on cycling\u2019s most horrific roads as UAE Emirates-XRG rode key sectors of Sunday\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1876445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1876445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1876445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1876445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1876445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fans are stealing Paris-Roubaix cobbles<\/h2>\n
![\"Paris-Roubaix\"](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Z8A_1659-720x488.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
Final prep, last touch<\/h2>\n
![\"UAE](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2269935775-720x480.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
Setback for Van Aert? UCI bans tire pressure device<\/h2>\n
![\"UCI](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Z8A_0518-720x518.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")