Van der Poel, Van Aert, Ganna… five questions about “the Queen of the Classics”

A week after a magnificent Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix without Tadej Pogacar but with Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert as headliners promises a great show this Sunday.

Where to follow Paris-Roubaix? the 120^e edition of the “Queen of the classics” will start this Sunday from Compiègne at 11:10 a.m. and will arrive at the Roubaix velodrome around 5 p.m. 256.6 km (including 54.5 km of cobblestones) on the program. To be continued on France 3 and Eurosport.

Van der Poel-Van Aert, a duel for a great premiere? Profile, ambition, repetition of arm wrestling, on all terrains and in all seasons, the Dutchman and the Belgian recall, in their opposition, the great duels that marked Paris-Roubaix: Roger de Vlaeminck-Eddy Mercxkx, Johan Museeuw-Andrei Tchmil or Tom Boonen-Fabian Cancellara. They are ready to fight it out. And dream of a great premiere (Van der Poel, 3^e participation fut 3^e and 2021 ; Van Aart 5^e appearance was 2^e in 2022). A week after being knocked out by Tadej Pogacar during the Tour of Flanders, the duelists claim to have gathered their ideas and their strength to go and get the pavement of their dreams. Van der Poel aims for a 4^e success in a Monument (winner of the Tour of Flanders in 2020 and 2022 and of Milan-San Remo 2023), Van Aert runs after a 2^e major victory (after Milan-San Remo 2020). Paris-Roubaix is ​​a perilous showdown. Mechanics and men are put to the test on a crazy day. The best must know how to avoid natural and tactical traps and take advantage of a bit of luck to get through a grueling obstacle course without damage.

Where is Pogacar? Like Julian Alaphilippe, the fantastic Slovenian has promised to venture to Paris-Roubaix one day. But not this year. He will have to put on a few pounds to withstand the exercise and be able to play with the solid specialists. In the meantime, the leader of the UAE Team Emirates team is taking advantage, after a prosperous start to the season (10 wins), of a break before returning to the Amstel Gold Race (April 16), then Liège-Bastogne-Liège (23 April) on the still distant route of the Tour de France (departure July 1 from Bilbao). Jonas Vingegaard shines on other roads, on the Tour of the Basque Country.

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Who are the main underdogs behind the favorite duo? The list of winners reminds us that Paris-Roubaix remains an event that is difficult to control. Eleven different winners have succeeded in the last eleven editions. Behind Mathieu Van der Poel and Wout Van Aert, the robust and swift Italian Filippo Ganna leads a small but ambitious peloton. At his side are: the Swiss Stefan Küng (3^e of the last Tour of Flanders), the Danes Mads Pedersen and Kasper Asgreen, the Dutchman Dylan van Baarle (winner of Paris-Roubaix 2022) or the Slovenian Matej Mohoric (5^e in 2022).

Which French people can shine? The last French victory in Roubaix dates from 1997. That year, to everyone’s surprise, the Breton Frédéric Guesdon won in the sprint ahead of Planckaert, Museeuw, Tchmil, Sorensen or Moncassin. Since then, the French have had to make do with a few fine places of honor (Gouvenou 7^e and 2002, Brad 7^e in 2005, Chavanel 8^e in 2009, Turgot 2^e in 2012, Gaudin 5^e in 2013, Demare 6^e in 2017, Laporte 6^e in 2021, Small 6^e in 2022). At the start, this year, in the absence of Arnaud Démare (“not 100%”, according to his sports director Frédéric Guesdon), the best French luck will be carried by Christophe Laporte who will start as teammate of Wout Van Aert. Regional Florian Sénéchal (6^e in 2019) will live with intensity its 9^e Paris-Roubaix, always a separate race and Anthony Turgis (2^e of Milan-San Remo in 2022) knows that he is capable of playing in the big leagues.

What’s new in the edition? The peloton will come up against the cobblestone section of Haspres (1.7 km of cobblestones at km 139.6) which had not been on the Paris-Roubaix course since the 2004 edition. The rest is classic. The Trouée d’Arenberg (2.3 km at km 161.3) should, as often, give the start of the great explanation. The Camphin-en-Pévèle sector (1.8 km of cobblestones at km 236) will for the first time bear the name of Eddy Merckx, triple winner of Paris-Roubaix (1968, 1970, 1973).