"Tadej Pogacar is a big candidate" but Mathieu van der Poel only eyes victory at Paris-Roubaix

On the eve of Paris-Roubaix, all the preparations are done into what is the final major cobbled classic of the spring. Two-time defending champion Mathieu van der Poel is at the top of the list of favourites which stretches amongst several riders, and his health has improved since the Tour de Flandres.

"It got worse by riding the E3 Harelbeke. Three days after the E3 I was really sick in bed and decided to take antibiotics. During the Tour of Flanders I still wasn't at my best, but I was able to defend myself well and still made it to the podium," he shared this Friday.

After the Ronde itself he did not feel good. “But that’s not surprising. It was a really hard effort on Sunday and I still hadn’t fully recovered. Fortunately, it’s Friday now and I feel a lot better, I think I’m good enough to defend my title. I felt really stiff for two days, but fortunately that passed quickly," he also said of his crash.

Now the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider departs for what is one of his biggest goal of the season, although the pressure will mostly be on his rivals to win. “We have a great team here anyway. Five of the six teammates were also there in 2024, while Jonas Rickaert was part of the team in 2023. I think experience really counts in a race like this.”

The victory is the only goal in his mind, less than that would likely not be satisfying if the victory does not come home to the Belgian team. “I always do that and that will be no different now. Of course it won’t be easy, but that’s the mindset I’ll take to the start. If I’m not at my best, I’ll do everything I can to keep the victory within the team. Jasper Philipsen has already shown that he’s capable of winning this race.”

On his main rivals he did not expand much on his thoughts, but aknowledged the obvious: “Tadej Pogacar is a big candidate, but in Flanders we have also seen that Wout Van Aert, Mads Pedersen and Jasper Stuyven are at a very high level. And then of course there is Filippo Ganna…”