Thanks to baseballlover312 for this amazing preview
Every year, it's the same. No matter how many times you conquer the Hell of the North, it doesn't get easier. it's the pinnacle of all northern classics that ever have been, are, and will be for eternity. long after all cobblestones on earth have rotted away from the erosion of millennia, the legend of Roubaix will live on.
So now, we take on the fearsome cobblestones of northern France for another year, and the 254 km ahead of these riders once again serves as a challenge unmatched in other tests of mortals. Those who survive becomes heroes and legends for their country, their team, their fans, and the sport of cycling.
The favorite at the start line this year is already a legend in every sense, but 31 year old Sam Bewley is back once again to extend his reign of dominance. Last year, Bewley won his 5th Roubaix title in a row, officially eclipsing recently retired Tom Boonen as the all time greatest champion in the race. What is left to be said about the man? He does everything. He's dominated cobbles and sprints across the WT for years, and shows no signs of letting up. Boroš and Hnik even tend to over perform as his domestiques, even though he doesn't need them. Beating him is the goal of every rider coming to the start line every year.
His main challenger will be Danny Summerhill. The American is the only one who can reasonably match Bewley on the cobbles, though his intangibles are not as good. He doesn't pack Bewley's sprint or his acceleration, and his tactics often leave something to be desired. Roubaix also hasn't been his best friend over the years, with only one podium finish way back in 2013. That being said, many top cobblers have declined or fallen aside in the past few years, leaving Summerhill as the heir apparent. He has to take his chances now. He'll have quite a few good domestiques to help him early in the race, though he lacks a top lieutenant to shepherd him near the finale.
Florian Senechal was the high priced free agent of the winter, and Tinkoff scooped him up for this very moment. Despite being only 25 years old, Senechal has been after Roubaix for a while 3rd and 2nd in the last two editions respectively. He doesn't pack a great sprint, but he's incredibly strong on the pave, and he has an amazing team backing him. Sibilla, Sulimov, and Zubov are the perfect super domestiques. They lack intangibles to lead successfully, but they are very strong on tough portions and make Tinkoff clearly the strongest team in the race to play cards near the end, when most are isolated. This puts them in a key position to upset Bewley.
On the contrary to the young Frenchman, Greg Van Avermaet is not the rider he once was. After training hard to become a top classics rider a few year back, he's now starting to lose his edge, at least a little bit. After just barely being pipped by Bewley in 2016, GVA took 3rd last year. Despite a small yet noticeable decline, he's still the most well rounded contender behind Bewley, with a good sprint to back up his ability on tough sections. His team should be decent early on, but he'll be freelancing at the end. How much is he willing to risk, given every year looks like his last real chance?
Next we come to a guy who put in a ton of work of the off season to contend here, and that's Joeri Stallaert. For most of his career, Stallaert has been a classics/sprinter hybrid, aiming towards less selective cobbled race where his sprint can notch him a top place. This year though, he's improved his strength on the cobbles by quite a bit, and he'll hope that will help him stay with the front of the race. From there, if it does come down to a sprint with a small group, he'll be in a good position.
Very similarly, Matteo Trentin lines up for Aker as their main guy. He's also a versatile hybrid rider that has trained hard to get cobbles results in the past. He packs a good sprint, though his abilities on hills mean that generally a race like Ronde is a better fit for him. Regardless, he's be in the mix and has a variety of options to explore as far as tactics go, with some solid helpers behind him.
Next we arrive at the first of the two PCT wildcards in this race, Carlsberg - Danske Bank. They're led by Pieter Vanspeybrouck, another rider with massive skill on the cobbles that hasn't been able to put it together on the roads towards Roubaix very often. The 31 year is joined by Frederik Nolf, who's a good classics leader in his own right, as well as Sinkeldam, a top domestique. None of these guys are versatile, but the race suits them more than any other, so as a wildcard without points on the line, they no doubt should look to animate the race. Given their massive underperformances this year though, results may not be anticipated.
Marcos Altur is a pretty similar rider to VSB. He's very talented on the cobbles, but it often seems that lack either lack of placement or strategy deters him from the very best. On a good day, he could even fight for the win. Without a strong team though, he could underperform if he's not at his best. At only 25, he still has plenty of chances ahead of him regardless.
Likewise, Mike Teunissen is a young Dutch cobbles star with a chance to make a real impact. He's spent most of his career on the PCT circuit, so 11th in 2015 as a still growing 23 year old is his best result, but he could definitely improve on that this season. He has shown to ride aggressively on occasion, and that could help him here. Of course, Gazelle sent mostly punchers with him, with only Potts being of any help, which will not make it easy for him.
We missed a name here for the top cobblers, and that's intention. The Kazak pride Arman Kamyshev could certainly be up there with the very best of Bewley and SUmmerhill if this was a drag race across the cobbles sectors. Unfortunately it isn't. Kamy loves the cobbles and loves longs, grueling flat races. What he doesn't like is accelerating - not just in the final sprint, but in response to any attack throughout the race. This fault leaves him with a propensity to miss the race defining moves. However, fi he can act preemptively, maybe he can circumvent that fault. Puccio is a good domestique for him if he can finally pull it off.
Polish phenom Lukasz Wisniowski will look to make his imprint on this race like never before. This guy can compete in tons of different types of races, but what makes him especially capable in Roubaix his that he's just as dangerous on paved flat road as he is on the cobbles, and very few guys can say that. Thus, his engine makes him a danger even on calm portions. Ringheim is also the perfect assistant for him because he's a very similar rider that will complement his efforts.
The other PCT wildcard, Kulczyk - DMTEX, brings Jerome Baugnies, who has had quite the season so far. He's been attacking in almost every race he's in, sometimes several times, and that should make him a real threat to upset the PT hegemony here. If he starts getting a gap, they can't let him away.
Maxime Daniel is another guy who has a decent sprint, but probably not good enough to rely on it. Not much a team behind him either, but he could surprise. Lukas Spengler of UBS is significantly weaker in intangibles, and doesn't even have a sprint at all, so he'll be looking for a lucky move or to follow the right wheel to a top placing here.
And of course, there's plenty of other guys who could potentially score well or even win here. Alexander Kristoff is one of the top sprinters in the world and could surprise if he can stay near the front. Gerts and Lampaert make a solid duo tactically for eBuddy. And of course, guys like Polanc and Declerq, among several others, will be looking to surprise from the lower echelons and lead their teams above expectations, even if it's only for minor placings. Oh, and never forget about Bakari!
The race has so many favorites it's almost impossible to count. And yet they all have their eyes set on beating one man. Will Bewley be able to solidify his mythos, or will a opponent from the vast field of contenders finally roll through the velodrome finish line first? Everything is on the table in Paris - Roubaix 2018!
Roubaix After a good performance in E3, I'm certainly hoping for more of the same here. Top 10 should be doable for Wisniowski at least, just hoping he avoids any punctures this time around.
A small revenge for Bewley with the win in E3, but I imagine he's very keen on getting a proper revenge. Hard to look past him here, that's for sure!
Sad I can't report on it this year, but it should be fun to be in it. Glad to at least write the preview for it. It's always fun to analyze the full teams.
Now, after Herning, it just makes sense that I'll probably win this race for zero points, so let's just do it.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
A highlight in the season! Must say I'm hyped for this one, even more now that De Ronde went down the drain. Fingers crossed Trentin is attentive, aggressive and still has something to sprint with if it comes down to a group sprint for a podium finish or so. A podium finish is certainly an ambitious goal, but not undoable, but I'll also be very happy if he can make it inside the top 5.
Amazing preview, bbl, thank you for that
As a couple of managers already said before De Ronde, it's really, really difficult to look past Bewley here, as the flat profile surely helps him compared to the Flemish classics.
At least the crucial points don't come with hilltops to force additional splits, but nevertheless his positioning needs to vastly improve.
We didn't expect much from the double monument header, but any point we lose in these races reduces the buffer we currently have from Demare etc. doing so well.
We are ranked even worse than the control team lol...
As in all the cobbles races, if any of our cyclists finish the race it will already be like a victory
fintas wrote:
We are ranked even worse than the control team lol...
As in all the cobbles races, if any of our cyclists finish the race it will already be like a victory
I noticed as well ;-) And thought I was atleast better than the control team
Passive race, but a good result, so I don't mind. Very good performance from Wisniowski. Two top results now after a slow start to the season. Coming in to a sprint like that, 5-6th place was always the best we could do, so happy to see him achieving that. Ringheim number 20 and additional three finishers make this a good race.
Two of my former riders being behind the biggest disappointments and surprises. Very poor result from Trentin, who surely should have been top 5 here. Kristoff on the other hand with a great result, congrats on that dev! And of course congrats to Roman also. Bewley looked stressed at times, but finished it off brilliantly. Stallaert also with another great result. That training has surely paid off, viking. Great choice!
Declerq as 18th is about where I hoped he would be, and it was impressive to see him win that group sprint. Especially considering the group extended all the way to 28th (=less than half the points), that was a smart ride.
Conor Dunne in 49th did certainly push quite above his weight here, just barely getting into the 10 points range despite 66 flat making Roubaix his worst possible cobbled route. This result alone makes his contract worth it, compared to any other random 50k climber I could sign.
Too bad nobody else could make it to the velodrome, but I only expected Cavagna to have the ability and he tried to get into the break. 40 points is fine though, especially with Evonik not making the podium and Aker sadly not getting much out of Trentin.
CongratzzZZzZzZzz to Moser, what else is new.
Daniel in 6th makes me happy for Festina. Also, Bakari in 41st!
Thanks for the report Aquarius!
Very exciting race for my part although I surely got lucky with the tactics of some of the other riders here.
Congratz to Roman and Bewley yet again. No surprises there. Stallaert again with a top result, really cool to see such an investment paying off, congratz Viking!
After a good performance in E3, I'm certainly hoping for more of the same here. Top 10 should be doable for Wisniowski at least, just hoping he avoids any punctures this time around. 
