Tadei Pogachar has added the Doire de Flanders to his spring race schedule in preparation for the cobbled Paris-Roubaix stage of the Tour de France, giving riders a second taste of racing on cobblestones.

The UAE Team Emirates rider has already confirmed that he will compete in the Tour de Flanders on April 3, but according to L'Equipe, he will also travel to Belgium a few days before that to compete in the Dwars door Hlaanderen on March 30 He said.

He will carefully scout the cross-border stages of the Tour de France and the Ardennes Classics before returning to Belgium for the Ardennes Classics.

"It's not often that we welcome a Tour winner. Guy Delacey, race director of the Doire de Vlaanderen, revealed Pogachar's presence to L'Equipe magazine.

Pogachar's race expedition to Flanders is centered on gaining experience racing on cobblestones before the Tour de France.

However, after winning Il Lombardia, he is eager to try more classic races and will compete in Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Il Lombardia In early January, Pogachar participated in a cyclocross race in Slovenia to refresh his cycling skills. He was Slovenia's cyclocross national champion in 2018.

"It's a new challenge for me and it will definitely help me in the Tour de France and on the cobbles," Pogachar said recently.

"To get an idea of the roads and cobblestones. We can scout after the race and the experience that comes with it."

Pogachar said that the Tour de France is "a great way to get a better understanding of the cobblestones and the roads.

Pogachar is expected to race in Flanders with UAE Team Emirates classic contenders Matteo Trentin, Fernando Gaviria, Marc Hirschi and Pascal Ackermann.

Stage 5 of the Tour de France starts in Lille and includes 11 cobbled sections to the famous mining town of Arenberg Porte du Hainaut. Although the Arenberg-Toruet is not on the route, five of these sections are often used in the Paris-Roubaix race. Whatever the weather, the cobblestones in July will present a severe test for the peloton and will probably lower the overall time significantly.

In 2010, Lance Armstrong and Ivan Basso crashed and Fränk Schleck retired in Allenberg; in 2014, defending champion Chris Froome crashed in a rain stage, and Alberto Contador and Alejandro Valverde lost significant time to eventual winner Vincenzo Nibali.

The Dwar door Hlaanderen is called the Mini Tour of Flanders because of the many cobbled climbs and cobblestone sections characteristic of the region; in 2021, Dylan Van Baarle won the race, and two cobbled sections were added to the route in 2022 The route was added to the Tour of Flanders in 2022 with two cobblestone sections.