Mathieu van der Poel: "You also need a portion of luck to win here"

Mathieu van der Poel is headlining Alpecin-Fenix for the upcoming Paris-Roubaix and he is coming with the ambition to take the win he was close to obtaining last year. After winning Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Tour des Flandres, it's safe to say the Dutchman is in a good position for the title.

In an interview with Het Nieuwsblad, he has responded to some questions. First one being on whether the weather difference in comparison to last year will make a difference to his performance: "I prefer to race in this weather," he said. "Certainly. I stand here with a completely different feeling than last year. It will be my first dry Roubaix. I also liked that wet edition. I prefer to race in this weather, only the technique was slightly more important last year. And of course you also need a portion of luck to win here."

"Every now and then someone is stronger and then you have to be able to accept that," he said. Last year he made the crucial moves of the race, but was empty when it came to the sprint in the velodrome where he was no match for Sonny Colbrelli and Florian Vermeersch. This year he's hoping for a different outcome, however making it to the track in a winning position will be a complicated challenge.

With the likes of Jumbo-Visma, INEOS Grenadiers who come in with stacked squads, and other riders like Mads Pedersen and Kasper Asgreen, it will be a tough task for van der Poel to be in control of the situation, however Alpecin is an ever-growing team in the classics that benefit from having such a strong leader.

"In Roubaix I find it easier to race as a top favorite than in the Amstel Gold Race," he concluded. He was swarmed at Amstel Gold Race by INEOS who took the win with Michal Kwiatkowski, however van der Poel is confident the scenario won't repeat itself.

Alpecin-Fenix for Paris-Roubaix: Mathieu van der Poel, Tim Merlier, Silvan Dillier, Senne Leysen, Gianni Vermeersch, Guillaume van Keirsbulck and Julien Vermote.