CYCLING – It’s the one-day race the cycling world obsesses about more than any other, the third ‘monument’ of the year, the most prestigious prize in the classics season, and a trophy that every pro rider covets. The 2024 edition of the ‘Hell of the North’ this weekend will be the 121st Paris-Roubaix.
Bahrain Victorious’ star Slovenian Matej Mohoric had been aiming to peak for Flanders and Roubaix, but a racing incident at the former means he won’t take to the start this year.
Lead sports director for Sunday Enrico Poitschke said: “It’s hard to lose someone like Matej, but his crash at Flanders meant he couldn’t finish the race and fight for the victory there. That was already hard for the whole team to take, and the issues following that crash have led to his withdrawal from Roubaix too, so that’s a bad situation for us, and for himself, but that’s just how it is.
Nonetheless, we are looking forward to the race.”
With Mohoric absent the team will ride in full support of British champion Fred Wright, who takes to the start for the fourth time, hoping to fulfil a lifelong dream.
Poitschke says the plan is unambiguous: “Fred is our clear leader, and all the other guys are very motivated; we have a good mix of youth and experience, and while our tactics might have changed a little, our philosophy stays the same and we still have big ambitions. We will try to support Fred at all the key moments and bring him to each of the pavé sections in good position. At Roubaix almost anything is possible, so we’ll try to fight for a top result with him.”
Roubaix never fails to be one of the highlights of the calendar, and one of the toughest challenges a professional cyclist can ever tackle. The distance is immense: 260 kilometres, the weather changeable and central to how the race plays out. And of course, with 55.7km of cobbled roads spread over 29 sectors, it’s dangerous, tense, and brutal.
The legendary ‘pavé’ sectors such as the Trouée d’Arenberg, Mons-en-Pévèle and Carrefour de l’Arbre, all feature this year, along with a few small changes to the route from the past years. Poitschke explains: “The route has changed a bit for this year: sector 26 is a new one and comes as part of a run of 4 sectors in a row at the start. There is uphill and downhill within it, and it’s pretty long, which means the first cobbled sections are already pretty important. As always the Arenberg will be one of the hardest, and the added chicane leading into it makes it even tougher, but it’s good for rider safety that it will reduce the speed before they get into that long and hard pavé. The end of the race is the same as recent years.”
Donning the Bahrain jersey in Compiègne alongside Wright, and making his Roubaix debut, will be Australian Cameron Scott. Dušan Rajović has ridden here twice and has been putting in sterling support perfomances in both stage races and the Belgian classics. Those two will be Wright’s wing men from kilometre zero. Cameron Scott is back after the opening classics, and he’ll be by Wright’s side for as long as possible. Dusan will be close to Wright from the start, fighting for position, says Poitschke.
But Paris-Roubaix is unpredictable, so the team has other cards to play too. Polish duo Kamil Gradek and new signing Łukasz Wiśniowski have both been here before, and have the powerhouse engines and endurance required for such a unique test. Joining them in the line-up are Fran Miholjević, who finished his first Roubaix last year, and Andrea Pasqualon. The Italian rode the race in 2022 and ‘23, both times achieving top 50 results.
Poitschke says that these four may have a chance to shake things up a bit should the opportunity arise. “Our aim is to ride offensively, trying to join some breakaways, because in the past we’ve seen guys get on the podium from that kind of situation,” he said.
“Kamil and Lukasz are two guys who love this event, and they’ll have a little bit of freedom to start with, but if nothing comes of that they’ll be back helping Fred.
“In Fran and Pasqua we have riders who know Roubaix, and they are both very focused. We’ve already seen Fran trying to get in breaks in the Flandrian races, and Andrea also has some opportunities to have a go.”
&uuid=(email))