Kasper Asgreen knows Wolfpack will have to anticipate to make the ends meet at Paris-Roubaix: "We are not the big favourites; we're still the underdog"
Cycling
Despite not having the best of springs, Soudal - Quick-Step remain a sleeping giant, with plethora of strong riders waiting for a chance to pass by. One such might await the Wolfpack riders at Sunday's Paris-Roubaix, but the Belgian team's leader Kasper Asgreen knows that just waiting won't get them anywhere and that they'll have to pull off a masterpiece to end their drought.
"I’m happy to have beaten Mathieu once, but it doesn’t mean you’ll beat every time," Asgreen said realistically at a press conference held at the showroom of sponsor Safety Jogger on Thursday.
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"I don’t think our role has changed. We are not the big favourites; we're still the underdog. We have seven cards to play, the seven riders in our team. Our strength is our experience, we have riders who have ridden and done well several times. Roubaix is a race where the strongest doesn't always win. You can go far into the race from a group that goes early. With experience you get far and see those tactical opportunities."
"Every team has the idea of anticipating his attack, but the Alpecin team was strong at the Tour of Flanders and kept the race together until the second climb of the Oude Kwaremont, and from there, Mathieu could do the race he wanted. If they do the same on Sunday, he’s very difficult to beat. But difficult to beat is not impossible to beat. I think the key is to try to open up the race early and hopefully isolate him."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- I had no idea about that either.
santiagobenites10-11-2026 - great analysis thanks! appreciate you posting this. I didn't realize CX had a different standard for deviation. this is even more egregious it seems.mij10-11-2026
- As he isn't currently with Red Bull, I guess if he want to race for one more year he needs to find a team. He's 37 so this will be his last year I would guess, unless he wants to race for almost nothing like Froome did.awp10-11-2026
- I think some are making much ado about nothing. Even though Jonas is getting older, before his crash in the Tour, he looked like a solid 2nd all the way home. No one can really climb with Tadej until this year, Eric Mas showed himself which I think was a one off year for him and Paul Seixas has been able to be pretty close to him. Whatever stage race Jonas enters as long as Tadej is not there he is a favorite to win.awp10-11-2026
- Giro or not Giro, he won't win the Tour!MajorPayne10-11-2026
- Very true.awp10-11-2026
- Ciccone had a very strong end of season. Consistently attacking and livening up races. Hope he makes that last leap in progress and starts notching some significant wins. Great rider to watch.Occam10-11-2026
- Me too!!!!!Occam10-11-2026
- they can sign any 100 of top riders today but Pogi will win over Remco any time at the TDF unless something goes wrongabstractengineer10-11-2026
- the time for a GC rider to retire is when they cannot win stages, or have a significant level drop like from winner/podium into top 5/10 consistently. Roglic is still competitive and Froome raced even though he became pack fodder.abstractengineer10-11-2026
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Wolves on cobbles 🤩 Our seven riders for the “Queen of the Classics”! Artwork: @ArtsRonan
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