Romain Bardet, a two-time Tour de France podium finisher, may show up on the cobbles of the Tour de Flanders and Paris-Roubaix this fall.

Bardet had targeted the Giro d'Italia, Olympics, Vuelta a España, and World Championships before the race was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The cycling calendar has been rescheduled and he has decided to race the Tour de France on the new dates of August 29-September 20 and the World Championships, but then has to decide what to do.

His AG2R La Mondiale team manager says the Giro is too close to the Tour and World Championships, but he has the option of competing in the Vuelta a España, which will be held in late October and November. However, after the Ardennes Classics in early October, the cobbled classics come later in the month, with Flanders on October 18 and Roubaix the following Sunday. If he skips the Vuelta, Bardet can run Il Lombardia on the 31st.

"With the new calendar, I might consider running the cobbled classics. The Tour de Flanders and Paris-Roubaix are races I really want to participate in, and it's difficult in a normal season when you think about preparing for the Grand Tours," Bardet said in his diary for the French newspaper Le Monde.

"Now we are in the Vuelta period, we have to make choices and we will see how the teams allocate their resources, with wet and oily pavé awaiting us at the end of October."

Bardet has been on the podium twice in the Tour, but he also has podiums in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Strade Bianche, and the World Championships.

His run in the 2018 Strade Bianche, where he escaped from Wout Van Aert and finished second behind Tiesj Benoot, was a testament to his ability on rough terrain, although the clear leader on the cobbles of AG2R is Oliver Naesen

"I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do it.

"There are overlapping moments and you have to make decisions, but for a rider like me it's appetizing," Bardet said.

"The form I built up in the Tour de France will help me in the grand program of the Classics. Riders who have ridden the Tour will have a real advantage in the Ardennes Classics and in the cobbled Classics."