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"

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.

"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."