"Almost every rider will have bad luck tomorrow. It's about staying calm" - Mathieu van der Poel won't be looking for excuses if he doesn't win Paris-Roubaix

Mathieu van der Poel will start Paris-Roubaix 2024 as the favourite to claim overall victory. On the infamous French cobbles however, nothing is certain, although van der Poel won't be using bad luck as an excuse if things go wrong.

"Almost every rider will have bad luck tomorrow. It's about staying calm," the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader previews in a short interview on stage at the pre-Paris-Roubaix team presentation. "You can get back into the race."

With Alpecin-Deceuninck holding two of the main protagonists in both the world champion and Jasper Philipsen, the duo who finished one-two last year, understandably fancy their chances of a similar level of success this time around.

"We are looking forward to tomorrow in a relaxed manner. We have already had a unique season and tomorrow we will try to win again," van der Poel concludes with optimism. "Our team is very strong. Jasper Philipsen has already shown what he can do here."