Tadej Pogachar and his UAE Team Emirates teammates will test their strategy later this week in preparation for next Tuesday's Paris-Nice team time trial.

The new format for the 32.7km TTT, which will take place on stage 3, will stop the clock at the time of the first rider across the line, not the fourth to fifth.

UAE Team Emirates has changed its lineup for the 8-day event to account for the TTT rule changes.

Pogachar has already opted to skip this weekend's Strade Bianche and is now in full condition for his Paris-Nice debut, which starts Sunday near the French capital.

"I have put in a lot of time for this TTT. We're devoting a lot of time specifically for this TTT, for one thing, we're timing the first riders as they cross the line, which means we have to go into the race with only one leader in mind"

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"Instead of having two riders going for GC, as has been our strategy in many races, this TTT format means that we have to clearly define who is the leader before we start.

To that end, Matsin explained, various UAE riders from around Monaco, including Pogachar, will train together and "put theory into practice as much as possible, including order, aerodynamics, and power output."

"But it's a team time trial, not a team time trial. It reminds me of the one in Girovio where the teams start in order of their individual ranking. I won't say anything more about that one.

In the Paris-Nice team time trial in Dampierre-en-Barly, a rule change meant that UAE Team Emirates had to defend leader Pogachar until the end of the course.

"It affects the overall coordination of the group and the balance between aerodynamics and power output.

"Especially at the end of the TTT, we try to make sure that the last kilometer riders finish as fresh as possible.

"He must minimize his effort in the first part of the time trial so that he can maximize it in the last part. On the other hand, the other riders must race in such a way that they can exert themselves in the early part of the time trial.

Pogachar continues to race in Spain, but Matosin reveals that this year he was late in receiving his time trial equipment from his sponsor Shimano, which affected his team in races like the UAE, where there was also a TTT.

"Because of that, we couldn't do team time trials with Adam Yates, for example. So at the team training camp, where we always practice the TTT, we couldn't practice the TTT for a day."

He also said.

Since then, UAE Team Emirates has made up for it whenever possible with practices like the team time trial get-together near Monaco this week, but even so, the Paris-Nice test means sailing into the unknown.

"Although it is a team time trial, after 30 km it becomes an individual time trial. 'It's certainly an unusual and strange combination.'