Pogačar and Van Aert fly over Paris-Roubaix cobbles as Uno-X take recon very seriously indeed

It is only a few days until Paris-Roubaix and preparations are in full swing. Several teams have already been out on reconnaissance: Tadej Pogačar was spotted on the cobbles with his team, Wout van Aert previewed the course, and Uno-X Mobility took the word 'reconnaissance' very seriously indeed.

A month ago, Pogačar reconned the Roubaix course with Florian Vermeersch on a ride of over 200 kilometres through northern France. Now, just days before The Hell of the North, the Slovenian did it all over again — this time with his entire team.

The world champion was also spotted by Sporza at a coffee stand along the course. Footage showed Pogačar making himself a coffee, complete with latte art. His team also took the time to enjoy a piece of cake in the sunshine. After that, they continued on their way — before hammering over the cobbles at full speed.

It was not only the UAE Team Emirates-XRG riders who headed out on Thursday for a reconnaissance ride. Wout van Aert also ventured into the sunshine with his Visma | Lease a Bike teammates. The team recently received the bad news that they are not allowed to use the Gravaa system, making a thorough reconnaissance all the more important.

According to his team director Grischa Niermann, the Belgian focused on a specific part of the course in particular. 'We are reconnoitring the first sectors and the approach to them. That zone is always super hectic in the race. Every year the start of the course is changed slightly and it is an advantage to have a look at those first sectors,' the team director told Sporza.

The Uno-X riders took inspecting the cobbled sectors to a whole other level. In a video on Instagram, Jonas Abrahamsen can be seen examining the cobbles with a magnifying glass. Not figuratively — the Norwegian was literally on his knees, inspecting the sector stone by stone. The team captioned the post: 'When we recon, we do it properly'.