Italian Classics icon touts Julian Alaphilippe as Tour of Flanders contender: "He certainly wants to redeem himself"

With Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne kicking things off at Opening Weekend in the coming days, Classics season for 2025 is almost upon us. As always, two of the premier events of the coming weeks are the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. One man that knows more than most about these two Monuments is Italian icon Andrea Tafi.

Tafi won the Tour of Flanders in 2002 and Paris-Roubaix back in 1999. In the opinion of the now-58-year-old, arguably the most important factor for potential winners of these races, is the strength of their teammates. "They are very different competitions of course, but in the end the difficulty is almost the same, that is, very high . And when the races get tough, being in a great team makes the difference," Tafi explains to Bici.Pro. "The Roubaix cobblestones tend to make natural selection, either you are gifted or you are not. While the Flanders is more of a normal race, if I may use the term, you have to be strong but also intelligent in dosing your strength and arriving still fresh at the decisive moments. In both cases the team is fundamental and without it you don't go anywhere."

To prove his point, Tafi looks back at his own experiences. "For example, the year I won the Flanders I had a great Daniele Nardello who protected me when I attacked in the final. But even the year of the Roubaix, the difference was made by the teammates who were behind me," he explains. "When I attacked at Roubaix with 46 km to go, I did it knowing that behind me I had riders who would protect me in every way, and that's how it went. In those races, these are really fundamental aspects."

In looking at the current peloton though, which teams stand out to the Italian Monument winner? "In general, the Belgian and Dutch teams, like Mathieu van Der Poel's Alpecin-Deceuninck, are the strongest because that is their home, they know the roads, many riders live there, and in general they care a lot about it," he analyses. "In my opinion, however, there will also be other teams to keep an eye on, outsiders, like Fabian Cancellara's Tudor Pro Cycling Team, someone who has done great things over there."

If the Tudor Pro Cycling Team are to have a successful time of things though, it's likely former world champion Julian Alaphilippe will need to be back somewhere near his very best. "Why not?" Tafi asks in conclusion. "He certainly wants to redeem himself, to make up for the last few unlucky years. Tudor is taking the right steps, one step at a time, I am convinced that they can do well. Then as we know, the races are made by the riders and you never know. Also because the important races start now, from now on we will see little by little the condition with which the various protagonists will arrive at the big events."