Paris-Roubaix organizers admitted on Monday they were worried they might have to change Sunday’s course due to mud on the cobbles.
The “Hell of the North” is the third of the year’s “Monument” one-day classics and one of the most prestigious races on cycling’s calendar.
World champion Peter Sagan of Tinkoff enters the “Queen of the Classics” as hot favorite after winning the Tour des Flandres — the second Monument — on Sunday, but the 114th edition of Paris-Roubaix might not follow the exact advertised route as some of the 27 cobbled sectors are considered too dangerous to ride at this time.
“The route is wet and muddy. We had some surprises, especially on the first [cobbled] sector in Troisvilles due to a large covering of mud,” race director Thierry Gouvenou said after Monday’s reconnaissance of the route with journalists.
“We’ll wait a few days before making a definitive decision. If we had to race today [Monday], we’d have to avoid that section, but there is still time and experience shows that you have to be patient,” Gouvenou said.
This year’s Paris-Roubaix race is to be 257.5km long, starting in Compiegne, just outside Paris, and finishing at the old velodrome in Roubaix.
The 27 cobbled sectors encompass 52.8km of the paves.”
“The problem is the switch between wet and dry areas, which is very dangerous. The riders pick up speed on the dry patches and can get caught out when they come to wet ones,” Gouvenou said.
As well as Sagan, three-time former winners Fabian Cancellara of Trek–Segafredo and Tom Boonen of Etixx-QuickStep are expected to shine, but last year’s champion John Degenkolb of Giant-Alpecin will not race due to injury as he continues to recover from a crash with a car in February.
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