Sagan leads trio into cycling's cobbled 'Hell'
PARIS: Known as the Hell of the North, and widely regarded as cycling's toughest one-day race, the Paris-Roubaix will be hotly contested on Sunday with Slovak superstar Peter Sagan heading a trio of former champions in contention.
Mud, dust, treacherous patches of moss and 54 kilometres of roughly cobbled former mining roads mark out the 'Queen of the classics' as a treacherous day's riding meaning a quarter of the riders will never make it to the iconic Roubaix Velodrome finish line.
Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas, who declined an invitation this year having fallen early in 2018, told AFP some sections of the old mining roads "look like a pile of stones someone threw off the back of a van".
Despite illness and a heavy fall in spring preparation, defending champion Sagan has been in the mix for several one-day races this season. He remains capable of repeating the type of sensational longdistance attack that brought him glory in 2018.
Some dislike his nonchalant style, but Sagan is also just the type of blood-and-guts 'puncher' who can remain calm on the body-battering cobbled sections, such as the storied Arenberg Forest, and pounce when seeing rivals wither in the hand-numbing conditions.
"He hasn't been on top form yet, but its coming," Sagan's sports director at Bora-Hansgrohe Jan Valach said after the Tour of Flanders last weekend.
Sagan will be backed by his brother Juraj and a powerful duo of rollers in Marcus Burghardt and Daniel Oss in their sevenman outfit.
As the race has been won by a Belgian 56 times in its 117 editions, 2017 champion Greg Van Avermaet cannot be counted out as the classics specialist and reigning Olympic champion is also a man on full form.
"I love Paris-Roubaix," Van Avermaet declared on Thursday.
"It has a special place in my career as it is the only 'Monument' I have won," he said in reference to the great oneday classics which also include Strade Bianchi, Milan-San Remo, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Tour of Flanders.