Stuyven is a great shout; extremely powerful on flat roads as seen in Kuurne in 16 and 17. Roubaix suits Démare much better and is a strong outsider. Lampaert is a better Roubaix rider as well, compared to Belgian classics, and he is in some fine form.

Avin Wargunnson wrote:
I dont see any triggers here, we all saw that Roubaix is one of the flat classics he never finished inside top5 and that can be said about only handful of races, so it is only natural that people downplay his chances. Combined with not so great classics campaign, where he had bad luck in some races and lacked the killer instinct or better tactics in other.

Then again lets not forget how some of his Roubaix performances went...last two years, which is probably best reference...2015 he punctured several times and in very bad moments, you cant do much with that. Last year he was held together with Spartacus in that big crash and nobody cooperated with these two, while Panzerwagen won it for first group in the meantime. So question is, could he really done a lot more given the circumstances during 2015 and 2016 Roubaixs?

I think he can end anywhere between 1st and last, you never know with him, but he is one of the riders you can really never rule our of the race.

Guido Mukk wrote:

Why nobody talking about Sky team. Scary strong Roubaix squad there

Kirchen_75 wrote:
I know my opinion will trigger a lot of people here but I don't rate Sagan's chances. His best result is 6th. I take Kristoff and Dege over him any day. Kristoff and Degenstache have insane stamina and thats exactly what you need here.
He's just not a Roubaix rider. He just doesn't have the power on secteurs of Roubaix. I remember in 2014 when he (smartly) tried to undercut and attack on flat before Carrefour he had a 30 sec gap and then Vanmarcke attacked behind and his gap melted so quickly he barely held on to the group.

bassiii wrote:


And what has Kristoff proven in PR? His best result was a 9th place in 2013? Also you don't have to be a genius to see Sagan in 2017 is a little better than he was in 2014... Ofcourse Kristoff has also made progress but I don't think we'll ever see the 2015 Kristoff again, when he was at his best but even then he couldn't manage to get a result, neither did Sagan but he had some bad luck in 2015's finale and ofcourse last year he was held up together with Fabian... Just trying to say that Kristoff isn't more suited to PR than Sagan, apart from the fact I'm a fan of Peter. But then again this race is so unpredictable it could be Kristoff's day and then I'll be the first to have respect for that

Guido Mukk wrote:


same here. Are you blind guys..you are counting Sagan out because he's best result at Roubaix has been 6th.
You can not count Sagan out ..really cant. last 2 years bad luck just stopped him to be at the top game. Like at Vlaanderen..he would have given living hell to Gilbert without that crash. He definately wont have lifted he's bike before the line.
He decided to go at Poggio ..at Milan -Sanremo and dragged with him just 2 hilly classic aces.
Man is beast..you cannot count him out tomorrow. Prefer Dagenkolb to sagan? 2017?
When one of them has not shown close to nothing thanks to that terrible crash (I like Dagenklob)..and another man is dominated the sport.
And why I should defend and cheer Sagan? I was then one who was considering him as cocky ..arrogant bastard at he's first year.
Now I can say sry. I was wrong. Totally wrong. Cycling needs guy like him..and he will be at the peak at sunday.
Why nobody talking about Sky team. Scary strong Roubaix squad there

TheManxMissile wrote:


Rowe fell kinda hard at Flanders, and whilst has ridden since he has to have a question mark over him. He could do well but with the interrupted run-up and no stand out performance this season a safer expectation would be low Top-10
And Stannard has been almost invisible for the most part, which could be good given his usual early season form fading away come Roubaix. But it leaves him an unknown as well.
Beyond that it's not great and i wouldn't expect Sky to make the race interesting, or their riders to teat it open.

Kirchen_75 wrote:
Kristoff has better qualities for Roubaix than Sagan period.

Kirchen_75 wrote:


Kristoff has better qualities for Roubaix than Sagan period. Hes a more powerful rider with insane stamina. He did okay at de Ronde with 5th place it was i think so he should be in the mix.

niini wrote:
I see Sagan Kristoff and Degenkolb as same type of riders only with Sagan on little higher level for last 2 years. But maybe i am wrong i watching cycling only for few years and definetly dont have experience you guys have here.

But stating like "Kristoff is more powerfull rider with insane stamina " sound like really good joke for me in 2017

They are to some extent, but Sagan is much more explosive and adapt at hills - Degenkolb and Kirstoff are you typical hardmen sprinters who gets better and better the longer the race. There sprint doesn't suffer 260 km. Or even 300 km.

niini wrote:


And thats exactly what was last WC about, sprint after very long race in extreme heat

Riis123 wrote:
But yes Kristoff has been mediocre since winning Flanders for some reason. It probably will continue, but he is a dangerous outsider on his day.