Anna van der Breggen (Boels-Dolmans) could not hide her pleasant surprise at the addition of Paris-Roubaix, the first women's race to be added to the Women's World Tour late calendar.

The former world champion told Cycling News that the iconic cobbled classic is unique on the calendar, and its first winner will need to be strong, well-positioned, confident, and fearless.

"First of all, I think the winner will be the one who is not afraid," Van der Breggen said. 'Also, someone who is very good at positioning. If you go into the cobblestones, you better be in front because you can crash."

"If you look at the men's race, you can see that if you are behind it takes a long time to get back. It's a long, hard race, so the stronger, better-positioned athlete might win."

On May 5, the UCI announced a revised 2020 Women's World Tour calendar, replacing plans that were cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Postnord UCI WWT Volgorda West Sweden road race and team time trial were recently cancelled, but the top-level series retained 18 of its 22 events, including five stage races and 13 one-day races.

The races will run from August 1 through November 8, with the first ever women's Paris-Roubaix, run by Tour de France organizer ASO, scheduled for October 25.

"It's a really great calendar," said Harris. 'They're putting the whole season into three months. If that happens, it's going to be really busy. But Sweden has already canceled all competitions. But Sweden has already cancelled all competitions. If we can resume racing, not just cycling, it means that other companies can also resume racing, and that means it is going well. Hopefully it will work out and we will be able to race again. Like everyone else, I have no idea if it's possible at all

"Paris-Roubaix for the women was a really great surprise. Nobody knew about it and suddenly it was on the calendar. It was really nice to see that they really wanted to offer us a race in difficult times, difficult times to plan for. That's really positive. It's really great to have this race on the calendar, but at the same time it's a race that we don't have yet. It's a different race from the Tour de Flanders or the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

"We tried this cobblestone, it's brutal, it's not like any other cobblestone. It's not like any other cobblestone. This race already has a lot of history in the men's cycling world.

Boels Dolmans has experience riding the Paris-Roubaix cobblestones, having spent a full day filming a promotional video for his sponsor, Specialized, when they launched their new Roubaix bike last year.

In the video, which was posted on social media at the time of the launch, Boels-Dolmans riders Chantal Black, Christian Majures, and Van der Breggen ride the rough cobblestones of the Arenberg forest, the most famous section of the men's race. The team used the video as a campaign to see if the ASO and UCI would add the women's Paris-Roubaix to their calendar.

"It was the first section of cobblestones. It was a media day, but we rode the whole day on the cobblestones. I was surprised, to be honest. I was surprised, to be honest. It's not like any other cobblestone race. It rained and it was a gray day. I was surprised that the cobblestones were that bad. It was pretty difficult to run on them."

"It's not just running on the cobblestones. Because we were running in a group, everyone wanted to go to the front. So before the cobblestones the speed picks up and when you hit the cobblestones it can be over 60 km/h. [25] "If it rains, like it did that day, it can be quite difficult. If it's raining like it was that day, it's quite a bit. I think everyone should prepare for cobblestones in a different way than other cobblestone races. It's different. It's different from road cycling."

Van der Breggen warned that all teams and riders should spend time previewing the route once ASO releases the course map and details for the women's Paris-Roubaix.

"I hope everyone at least does a preview," he said. 'They should know what to expect and how it will feel. When you ride on cobblestones, you lose visibility, you go up and down, and you don't know where you're going. It's fine if you're running alone, but it's much scarier if you're running in a group. It's good to experience those things before you run in a real race."

Van der Breggen is not picky about which races he enters as long as he has the opportunity to race this season. He also told Cycling News that he hopes to compete in the World Championships in Switzerland in September.

"At this point, I don't care which races I compete in," she said. I'm really happy if I can race, because this calendar is full of one important race after another. I just want to race this season.

Van der Breggen has announced that he will retire from professional racing at the end of the 2021 season and take over as team director under new sponsor SD Worx.

Asked if she would like to compete in the women's Paris-Roubaix before retiring, she said it would be special to be the first woman to win such a historic race. However, she believes that Boels Dolmans will choose the best athletes for this parcours, and it remains to be seen if she will be selected for that team.

"Looking at the race now, I am happy that it is on the calendar and that there will be a race in the future. I just want the team to be there and whether that includes me or not is not really important. If the girls are really motivated, then the right team is important."

"This race has a lot of history. It's the first race for women and it's like a kid going into a candy store.