Nathan van Hooydonck tells his favourite for Paris-Roubaix - And it's not Pogacar, van der Poel, van Aert or Pedersen...

Nathan van Hooydonck is a former right-hand man for Wout van Aert and still a member of Team Visma | Lease a Bike to this day. In his Paris-Roubaix preview he got emotions out of the way and talked about who he considers to be the main favourite, and he's got an interesting opinion.

"I'm not completely ruling him out, but it will be much more difficult for him to drop the others than in the Tour of Flanders," van Hooydonck argued in words to Het Laatste Nieuws regarding Tadej Pogacar. "There are no hills where he can use his weight to his advantage." However, the Slovenian will start amongst the very main favourites, and only four years ago Sonny Colbrelli also achieved a victory on his debut in the Hell of the North. That will be a tough task for the World Champion however according to van Hooydonck.

"Small, light riders will tend to jump on the cobblestones. Whereas heavier riders will automatically press their bikes down more due to their weight, which means they are more stable on the cobblestones and slide more. For someone who weighs 65 kilos, it's more of a constant struggle and hard work on the bike."

Hence heavier riders such as Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen could have a slight advantage over the other two, however as we know bike handling skills are crucial and Mathieu van der Poel is almost unmatched in this regard. However the Belgian rider looks towards a particular rider as a potential winner of this race despite the incredible competition.

"Filippo Ganna is my top favorite. He is like a truck on cobblestones: once he gets up to speed, he doesn't stop," he argues. "Uphill it's about watts per kilo: the lightest rider who can pedal the hardest goes up the hill the fastest. On the flat, it's about absolute wattage: the more power you have, the faster you go".

"Weight is much less of a limiting factor. Or, to put it the other way around, ten kilos of extra muscle is more of an advantage. Big, muscular athletes are often stronger."