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Fabian Cancellara: "There’s no doubt that Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel come to race as the favourites"
CyclingSaturday, 08 April 2023 at 16:17
In 2006, 2010 and 2013 Fabian Cancellara has won Paris-Roubaix. Now on the other side, the classics legend has analyzed the Hell of the North and talked about the riders he believes will mark the race and how it could be affected.
"There’s no doubt that Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel come to race as the favourites, and perhaps Van der Poel is the bigger favourite of the two after the Tour of Flanders, but at Paris-Roubaix we can never underestimate other riders," Cancellara said in a column for Cyclingnews. The Swiss rider mentioned Stefan Küng, Filippo Ganna and Mads Pedersen as big contenders.
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Cancellara has often performed in Roubaix despite being the man to beat, and in a race where bad luck usually takes riders out of contention. The unpredictability at such a high level however is something which makes the race special and is every year a factor in the French race. "I think it's cool to see outsiders win at Roubaix and the race is famous for it," he says.
"We almost saw this happen with the breakaway group at Flanders, but in the end, the race was completely changed, and so the three best riders emerged up front. The teams with outsiders have to continue the way they've been racing, taking chances and going for breaks, otherwise, it's just too easy for the two main favourites to win."
The fight for the breakaway is likely to be ferocious, but the main favourites themselves should also put in digs early on. At the Tour of Flanders the big moves began with 110 kilometers to go, and in terrain that is more tactical in Roubaix, teams could try to use their numbers from even earlier on, and take advantage of chaotic situations which are inevitable. Many riders will have chances to race for a top result, but Cancellara also warns for his rivals of the past.
"You might get a chance for an attack from the likes of Soudal-QuickStep. They have a lot of riders who are just behind the top three contenders, but they have a strong team collective that can go from far. I think that they are going to be an interesting team to watch this weekend," he assured.
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