The atmosphere on the start line of Paris-Roubaix in Compiegne was subdued but with an air of underlying tension on Sunday morning as riders gradually sensed the importance and significance of the day.
The training, recon rides, bike tech decisions and debates about chicanes and cobbles have all been done. The only thing left to do was race hard for 259.7 kilometres in what is surely the most dramatic race of the men’s season.
The team buses began to arrive 90 minutes before the 10:00 am rollout, with riders and teams happy to see the overnight rain had stopped. There was little wind and a timid spring sun was drying the cobbles but everyone knew that could change later on the key sectors of the race. The riders would have to be ready for anything, including wet and dry cobbles in the same sector.
Every team placed their bikes in front of the buses, revealing their final equipment decisions. Most teams opted for road bikes fitted with 32 tubeless tyres, as aerodynamics and speed was considered more important than comfort. Only Israel-Premier Tech opted for aero gravel bikes and the Factor Ostro Gravel.
More and more 1x chainrings were favoured, with Josh Tarling opting for a 1x 62-tooth chainring to harness his time trialling power on the cobbles.
The teams sign on in a specific order, with the minor teams going on stage early, and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) last up just minutes before the roll-out. They faced final questions about their form from television and media and rode through the VIP tent to line-up on the start line.
Tom Pidock’s late entry was the story of the last 24 hours but the Ineos Grenadiers rider was keen to race. There were three non-starters: Michael Mørkøv (Astana Qazakstan), Michael Vink (UAE Team Emirates) and perhaps most strikingly o of all, Dylan van Baarle (Visma-Lease a bike).
The 2022 Paris-Roubaix winner has struggled to recover from the illness that disrupted his Flanders classics campaign. With Wout Van Aert and Matteo Jorgenson out, Visma-Lease a Bike’s Classics ambitions have been decimated, with Christophe Laporte the protected leader despite not racing since Milan-San Remo due to illness and a saddle sore.
Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) has also been ill but confirmed to Cyclingnews that he has recovered. The Tuscan is determined to give his all in his final race of the spring before taking a break and preparing for the Tour de France that starts in Florence, close to his home in the Chianti hills.
“I’m here, this my last hit out, so I’m just going to go for it,” he said on the startline.
Van der Poel was escorted to the front of the peloton for the start with two minutes to the rollout. The tension was far more palpable as riders swapped nervous fist pumps, checked their power metres and tyre pressure and mentally prepared for six hours of suffering.
At 11:10, the speaker counted down the seconds to the start of the race, with the crowd cheering off the riders as they began their ride into the Hell of the North.
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
"It took a bit more time than expected, but I recovered well from the Tour of Flanders. In any case, I was able to train well in Spain and hope to find my Flanders legs again. Winning there in the rainbow jersey was already a big goal and after that I had a small feeling of decompression, but I managed to stop that quickly. However, it always remains to be seen what the feeling is on the very first cobbled stretch.
"We have been put in a similar situation several times this spring, but we've kept it well under control every time. We always have to stay well in front anyway and wait and see if the competition places an attack before the Arenberg.
"In any case, my race only starts there. Beating me won't be very difficult in any case, because the competition has proven that several times in recent weeks."
Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers)
"I'm fine, to be honest. I've got a bit of bruising on my hip still, but as soon as I knew it wasn't serious I was like 'Right, game on'. I started training again and I was like 'I want to go to Roubaix'.
"I haven't done a recon and I haven't ridden these roads in four or five years. For sure that's going to help but I'm just looking forward to getting stuck in and getting to the last part of the race. I want to get past the first part of the chaos – anyone can be a victim of mechanicals and crashes. So, you have to beat the course before you try to win the race.
"I'm not really here to tell you how to beat Van der Poel. It's a last-minute thing and I'm here to enjoy myself and when I enjoy it I get the most out of myself. He might also puncture or crash and he might be out of the race in the first 100km, so it's not just about one guy."
Oier Lazkano (Movistar)
"I feel good and I want to do my race well with no mistakes. That's the main objective. I think we have a good team here so we'll have to play our chances as a team.
"I think that they did [the chicane] with improving our security in mind and we have to applaud that. I don't know if it's going to be good or bad, but it's made with that in mind and everything that is made with that in mind is good for us."
Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-QuickStep)
"I'm excited. It's one of those really special races that you're looking forward to for the whole year so it's a special day. What do you expect from from yourself and the team today? I think we have to, to try to, to be a bit smart with how we spend our energy.
"We're not the big favourites, so we need to let the other teams do the majority of the work and try to find our moment to to get ahead.
"I choose to see [outside pressure] as a positive thing. Those expectations are high because we won a lot in the past and you can't take those wins away from us. At the moment, we're in a bit of a lull but we're doing as much as we can to get out of it.
"I think the Arenberg itself will be harder because of the chicane because you need to accelerate on the sector. I think the splits could be bigger, but I think it's a good thing. We've seen the last few years that every year we crash in the first 200 metres just because of the speed. It's good that something is done before something seriously bad happens."
Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious)
"It might be a bit damp out there but they dry quicker than normal roads. At least that's what we've been telling ourselves on the bus to make it a bit easier on the head. But I'm excited.
"I think that after Flanders I've got to take that experience out of my mind. I suffered in the last 60km and wasn't where I wanted to be, so I'm just taking today as a new opportunity. I've been unlucky here in the past and it's hard to have a smooth race here. But hopefully we have a smoother race than in the past and we can get something nice out of today.
"[The chicane] has created a lot of buzz and a lot of people are worrying about it and talking about it. But to be honest I think the race is going to be so exploded beforehand on the sector before.
"It's going to be interesting, that's for sure, and it means that Arenberg is going to be savage. There's not going to be a big crash on the hairpin or chicane or whatever you want to call it."
Oliver Naesen (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)
"I know anything can happen today. That does give a bit of stress because you are not master of your own fate. But I'm really looking forward to it, because I'm in shape. I've learnt over the years that all the things you can't control, you better not worry about them.
"Top five is realistic, so I will fully go for that, but it is a day where anything can happen 10 times. In the best case scenario, I'll take the win."
Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ)
"It's going to be a super hard and crazy race, a fight before those first cobbled sectors and then probably full gas all the way home.
"It's been a long season since Australia and I've been holding good levels since then. I'll have a little break after this. Looking back on it, I can be very happy with how it's gone. I can't complain.
"I think we're racing for the win. Of course, you come to a race like this aiming to win it. We've got Stefan who's had really good results and hopefully, I can also be there in the end. A top 10 would be nice but hopefully, we can get the win with someone on the team."
Get unlimited access to all of our coverage of the Spring Classics- including reporting, breaking news and analysis from the Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Flanders, Strade Bianchi and more. Find out more.
