The mud cracking the faces and the damp cold torturing the organisms will not have a bib on Paris-Roubaix this year. Returning to the spring after a cancellation in 2020 then a shift in October last year, the queen of the classics will find, this Sunday, April 17, her now usual plumes of dust. The torture will be dry and the forks of the peloton will once again become those inhuman jackhammers that smash bodies, plow backs and make great winners.
And there is a good chance that an unprecedented winner will raise his first cobblestone at the end of this long Sunday of suffering at the foot of the old Roubais velodrome, so wrinkled with charm and history. Who will succeed the surprising Sonny Colbrelli, first last year, but whose heart attack on March 21 probably ended his career?
The big favorite is obviously called Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin), whose grandfather, Raymond Poulidor, is the record holder for participations in Paris-Roubaix (18 between 1960 and 1977). Last year, on his debut, Van der Poel finished in a frustrating 3rd place. Intrinsically, he is the strongest of the moment. His second victory two weeks ago at the Tour of Flanders attests to this. But in Paris-Roubaix, the strongest does not always win. Bad luck often overturns the tables.
Opposite, his great rival Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), deprived of Flanders and the Amstel Gold Race due to Covid, has decided to line up. Officially, he comes without ambitions. In reality, a champion of his caliber cannot agree to simply make up the numbers. At a minimum, if he can prevent Van der Poel from increasing his record, he will not be embarrassed.
The Seneschal year?
And it would be very risky to forget the Quick-Step. The best team in the world on the classics has so far missed its start to the season. Patrick Lefevere, his boss, gave a big rant which could in particular encourage Kasper Asgreen or Zdenek Stybar not to play wait-and-see. Without forgetting of course the Northerner Florian Sénéchal.
Besides the latter, the best French chances, orphaned by a success since 1997, will be represented by Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) despite the withdrawal of his new teammate Peter Sagan. And, of course, Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma), who proves, since his transfer to the Dutch team, that well supported, he can finally join the fight with the best.
For its part, the Groupama-FDJ team also has high ambitions. Not necessarily with Valentin Madouas, but with his super Swiss rider Stefan Küng, whose power in dry weather can do damage.