Mathieu van der Poel is expected to ride next year’s Paris-Roubaix, after his team were not invited to the 2019 edition.
Race director Christian Prudhomme says he expects the Dutchman will be taken to the ‘Hell of the North’ in 2020, after his staggering performances so far this season.
Van der Poel made his cobbled Classic debut this year, taking his first WorldTour win in Dwars door Vlaanderen.
Prudhomme, who is head of the race organiser ASO, said: “We expect him in Paris-Roubaix in 2020.”
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Cyclocross world champion Van der Poel and his Corendon-Circus team were invited to ride the Tour of Flanders by race organisers Flanders Classic, but ASO opted not to take the star to Roubaix.
But the organisers may be regretting their decision after the 25-year-old’s revelatory performances on the road.
After a crash in Nokere Koerse threatened to end his campaign, Van der Poel finished in the front group of Ghent-Wevelgem and sprinted to fourth.
He then took his first win at the highest level in Dwars door Vlaanderen, making it into a five-man breakaway and taking victory with a powerful kick at the line.
In his Tour of Flanders debut, Van der Poel was one of the main protagonists as he suffered a bizarre crash due to a mechanical, before riding back to the head of the race and sprinting to fourth behind Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates).
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But he was not finished there, as he won the opening stage of the Circuit Sarthe in France just two days later.
Van der Poel is now scheduled to ride Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold Race later this month, before turning his focus to mountain biking as he targets Olympic glory in 2020.
Prudhomme added: “I understand that Van der Poel wants to ride the Amstel Gold Race in his Dutch jersey.”
