A method and apparatus for the production of coreless paper rolls, including a winding phase on a central spindle of a paper web carried out by a main reel, until the formation of a wound paper roll, a phase of extraction from the wound roll of the spindle by application of a relative axial extraction force between the roll and the spindle, where the winding phase includes a first winding phase of a number of web revolutions on the central spindle performed at a first winding tension that is lower than the next winding tension.