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Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix brings the curtain down on the 2024 cobbled season, marking the tip of the ‘Holy week’ of the Classics, per week after Easter and the Tour of Flanders.
Mathieu van der Poel is the rider to beat on Sunday within the males’s race. He appears a stage above, a logical winner and destined for greatness. But these already bemoaning his dominance ought to do not forget that the biking world might shift on its axis as soon as once more, because it already has completed so typically this spring.
The great thing about biking is that nothing is about in stone, the wheel of fortune typically turns shortly, ending one riders’ goals and making a career-defining second for others. The cobbles of northern France might prolong the Van der Poel present into the Ardennes Classics or change every little thing within the blink of a watch.
The World Champion might grow to be the primary rider to finish the Tour of Flanders – Paris-Roubaix double since Cyclingnews Classics columnist Fabian Cancellara in 2013. Or, he may very well be defeated on the uncovered cobbles by the biking gods because of a crash or puncture, and even in a wide ranging dash within the Roubaix velodrome.
Regardless of the final result, Paris-Roubaix will probably be dramatic. There’s nothing inevitable in regards to the race and no room for indifference. There’s magnificence to look at in each second of the race and in each rider’s pleasure or struggling, whether or not they make it to the Roubaix velodrome or not.
Even Van der Poel is just not blasé sufficient to really feel an aura of inevitability at Paris-Roubaix.
He has the assist of a loyal and powerful Alpecin-Deceuninck squad. Jasper Philipsen is an excellent wingman and co-captain however Van der Poel additionally is aware of the world, or at the least the remainder of the peloton, will probably be racing towards him. He can rely upon his personal skill, his cyclocross world champion’s bike abilities and unbelievable 2024 spring health however it nonetheless may not be sufficient, particularly at Paris-Roubaix.
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Van der Poel flew to Spain to flee the chilly climate of northern Europe and the rising expectations of finishing a cobbled double. He went deep to win the Tour of Flanders after his solo assault on the Koppenberg with 44 km to go, admitting that he was human in his second of dominance.
The nice and cozy spring air of the Spanish coast close to Calpe will assist Van der Poel’s restoration and ease his Tour of Flanders ache. Maybe a number of further nights in his most popular altitude resort will increase his purple blood cells one final time earlier than a Sunday in hell however nothing makes him a assured winner.
Successful is feasible, ask Mads Pedersen or Matt Hayman
Van der Poel had appeared unbeatable till Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) outsprinted him to win Gent-Wevelgem, and all of the Dutchman’s rivals will probably be hoping for the same day of grace and perfection.
Defeating Van der Poel would virtually be as prestigious as profitable Paris-Roubaix itself. There could be one other layer to the dizzy feeling of success for a winner that would elevate the cobbled trophy above his head contained in the Roubaix velodrome and look down on Van der Poel from the highest step of the rostrum.
An surprising final result is all the time potential at Roubaix, simply ask Matt Hayman. The Australian recovered from a fractured wrist he suffered at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and educated intensely on Zwift to be aggressive on the race he liked in 2016. Hayman had by no means completed within the prime 5 in 14 earlier rides at Paris-Roubaix. However, he joined the early break, paced his efficiency after which beat Tom Boonen, Ian Stannard and Sep Vanmarcke within the velodrome dash.
Ten years earlier fellow Australian Stuart O’Grady gained in related trend from an early transfer, whereas in 2011 Johan Vansummeren additionally gained as an underdog. Even the early break or a sole surviving rider can keep away and win Paris-Roubaix, simply as in 1988, when Dirk Demol spent 222km on the assault however held off the late chase of Laurent Fignon to win alone.
Taking over Van der Poel requires bravery and health to go all the way in which to the end. The phrase of the race will probably be ‘anticipate’, with this yr’s version prone to explode even earlier than the normal ceremony of passage, the forest of Arenberg. It may very well be the right tactic, or be a case of falling into Van der Poel’s entice as soon as once more.
Pedersen, his Lidl-Trek teammates and everybody else who traces out excited however fearful in Compiègne on Sunday morning, can solely dream massive and goal excessive. They don’t have anything to lose on the final day of the cobbled spring – beat Van der Poel or be overwhelmed by him but once more, make historical past or crown Van der Poel the undisputed king of spring.
In fact, the record of contenders at Paris-Roubaix extends past the Lidl-Trek rider. Pedersen is only one pretender to the throne for this yr’s classics, and all eyes will probably be on a barely diminished Visma-Lease a Bike squad.
Future cruelly stepped in to wreck Van Aert’s and Visma-Lease a Bike spring however the axis of fortune might flip simply sufficient to offer them revenge on Sunday and cease Van der Poel from making historical past.
Paris-Roubaix is among the nice highlights of the biking season, and maybe central to that’s the race’s capability to shock us. Nonetheless, whether or not it’s a show of dominance from Van der Poel or a victory for an underdog, we may be assured of a real spectacle of racing on Sunday.
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