Tom Pidcock on how he decided to race Paris-Roubaix: "It's a last-minute thing, I'm here to enjoy it"

Tom Pidcock was in the Basque Country this past Monday doing a recon for the initial time-trial, when he crashed. He was carried away, not on his own foot, to the hospital in the region but was luckily cleared on injuries. One day after he decided to race Paris-Roubaix after bad luck hit him.

“I’m fine to be honest. Okay, there’s a bit of bruising on my hip still but as soon as I knew it wasn’t serious, I was like ‘right, game on!’ I started training again and I was like, ‘I wanna go and ride Roubaix'," he said in an interview with GCN.

Winner of the junior Paris-Roubaix a few years ago, the Briton - who is a master at bike technique - is an interesting outsider for today's race, which will feature some wet sectors where he can really take advantage of the situation. But he starts the race without pressure, not even riding the cobbles of Roubaix in the days leading up to the race: "Considering I haven't done a recon and haven't ridden these roads in five years, for sure that's going to help."

"I'm just looking forward to getting stuck in, and getting into the last part of the race. I want to get past this first part of the chaos - anyone can be a victim there, with mechanicals, crashes, anything. You have to beat the course before you try and win the race... It's a last-minute thing, I'm here to enjoy it and when I enjoy it I get the most out of myself."

What results he can ambition is rather unknown, but he leads INEOS Grenadiers alongside Joshua Tarling (who is racing on a 62-tooth chainring) and Ben Turner; three outsiders who can be dangerous for the outcome of the race.

Team DS Ian Stannard is confident on his leader's chances: "It's really good terrain for him, he can ride on these cobbles, and I'm pretty confident he can follow the best guys. He's absolutely buzzing about riding the race, and he's lifted another element to the team, the guys are all buzzing as well, so it's great to have him here."