Tadej Pogacar rode the last 110 kilometers of the Paris-Roubaix route on Thursday, three days before his second start in the race, and hit the northern cobbles at full speed in a reconnaissance built around the sectors that can decide the day. The Slovenian came through the Trouée d'Arenberg with about ten meters in hand after reaching more than 50 km/h on the first recognized cobbled sector from Haveluy to Wallers.
Pogacar had already given the race a hard look before this week. He said before the ride, "Il est temps d'en découdre à nouveau sur les pavés," and Fabio Baldato said the rider had already completed two reconnaissances, first during two confidential days in March with his Belgian lieutenant and earlier in December with Nils Politt and Florian Vermeersch on the northern cobbles.
The Thursday run took place near Denain and in Haulchin and drew spectators and photographers at the departure. Pogacar checked his rear derailleur himself before rolling out with six teammates, three support cars and one escort motorcycle, then used the pace to test the equipment under race-like stress. Baldato said the point was not just to ride the route but to make the last checks that only become possible at full tilt, and the pair stopped just after the forest to inspect tire pressure before the Trouée d'Arenberg. He said it stayed unchanged, which, in his words, meant everything remained fine and that they were on the final verifications.
Paris-Roubaix remains the only Monument that still resists Pogacar, and last year he lost victory after a mistake in a turn in his duel with Mathieu Van der Poel. That is why this reconnaissance mattered now, not as a formality but as a final pass over the terrain where the race most often breaks. The cobbles and the Arenberg forest are among the decisive parts of the course, and Pogacar has already learned that one small error there can end the day.
Baldato said they moved quickly past the old mistake because this time Pogacar knows the race better and will not repeat it. What Thursday showed is that the team is no longer guessing. They are checking, measuring and settling the last details before Paris-Roubaix 2026 turns from rehearsal into the real thing.
