“Why did you change your program and decide to participate one last time in Paris-Roubaix?
It was I who requested it. Since I fell ill a few weeks ago, I have had persistent problems with my respiratory tract – in addition, I ride all the time in the cold and the rain, which does not help to heal – and I always feel great difficulties when it comes to climbing. However, Roubaix is very flat, it is a more constant effort and I will be able to defend my chances more easily there. Ideally it would be better not to be sick, maybe in a few days it will be said that it was a mistake, but I hope to be here anyway.
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“It’s the Monument where there are the most anonymous people who end up in the top 10. It’s a bit of a surprise yard here. For me, its difficulty is overrated”
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What would be a good result for you?
My rankings are poor this year. The slightest result would make me happy, I’m not going to be choosy. If I could make top 20… In fact, I would just like to be in the race. Last year, I was 29th but I’m seven minutes behind the leaders, that’s not being in the race. I would like not to go through the race anonymously.
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That’s good, Paris-Roubaix is an event conducive to surprises…
Yes, it’s the Monument where there are the most anonymous people who end up in the top 10. It’s a bit of a surprise yard here. For me, its difficulty is overrated: some make a world of it, but Liège-Bastogne-Liège or the Tour of Lombardy are much harder. In Roubaix, even when you are average, you can achieve results. In 2018, it was very hot, I had done more than 30 kilometers without drinking and I had to slow down: once I left, I had overtaken several groups and finished 15th, I was almost disappointed that that be finished! This kind of situation is unimaginable elsewhere. In Liège, when you are let loose in the Redoubt, it’s over, you don’t come back; the same in Lombardy when you pick up at Sormano, you finish at fifteen minutes. In Roubaix, this is not the case. You can always come back in the game.
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“A favourite? Matthew van der Poel. He will put pressure in the technical parts and the others will make mistakes behind him. »
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Tell us your story about this race…
It’s a special relationship. I discovered Roubaix with the FDJ in 2007 but I had no experience, we didn’t have a great team and I hadn’t even prepared for the race. I didn’t go back there for more than ten years. Deep down, I knew I had the ability to win this Monument, but I also knew that you could easily break a leg there and above all, I wanted to win many others before this one. So it was only after winning all the other great classics that I said: come on, now it’s time to go to Roubaix, and go there to win. I worked hard for this. With Quick-Step, I had the best team to win.
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Is this solitary triumph in 2019 one of your greatest victories?
Yes, in the hierarchy it is very high because it was built. I had worked very hard for that, I had announced it, it was a real goal. I knew every sector, every cobblestone. Now I mix them up a bit but at the time I had memorized the route by heart. As an actor knows his text in the theater, I knew every centimeter of the course. I knew where I was going and how to manage his effort. That’s why I hadn’t been afraid to go from afar. It’s one of my greatest memories.
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Who is your favorite this year?
Matthew van der Poel. He will put pressure in the technical parts and the others will make mistakes behind him. »
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