"After a few difficult weeks, I was happy to regain some of the sensations during the last stage of the Benelux Tour at the Mur de Grammont (8th) on roads that I know by heart. My form over the past few weeks did not allow me to be selected for the World Championships in Belgium. I had been in the national team since 2007 and it was a bit difficult for me to miss this event.
I will be happy to see Roubaix again after 18 months of waiting. I would have preferred to race it in the spring, especially since my form was good which my third place at Ronde Van Vlaanderen proved, but that's how it goes. Paris-Roubaix, even in October, remains a very important moment of the season and I really want to perform well through the end of the season and resume training for 2022 with high ambitions."
-Greg Van Aermaet. 2017 PR Champion
"I'm not going to be afraid if it's wet, but I do know that it will be special. But you can't compare those few lanes in a Roubaix stage in the Tour with the real Roubaix. That is a battle of attrition and rain makes it even more difficult. I know that from 2014."
"Normally, this race is the last cobbled classic after a long period of spring classics, but now it is on its own, at the end of the cycling calendar. That will feature different racing. Some riders might already be looking forward to the off-season after a long period of racing, while others might be even stronger than they normally are in spring."
-Sep Vanmarcke. After finishing in the top-6 in five previous rides at PR, he is one of the most experienced riders on the pavé.
"I speak from experience... when it is wet, and now especially in this part of the season, it is going to be very treacherous. I did Paris-Roubaix in wet conditions, and it is another kind of race."
-Dirk Demol. Israel Start-Up Nation DS and 1988 PR Champion
Blast from the Piet Mondrian inspired past for PR only:
Delko will sport the LOOK 1985 jersey aka La Vie Claire
Back in time: Marianne Vos
"There's no denying that the men who do well in Roubaix are big and strong and crank out some serious wattage. True, I'm nothing like that! But I hope I'll still be able to produce enough watts and, even more importantly, to be astute enough. In a race like this, you need to stay at the front and be well-positioned at the entrance to each sector.
It's our very first time, so we have no clue how this is going to play out! Thin cyclist, big cyclist, power riders, climbers... Everyone thinks they have a shot at winning, and this is what makes the inaugural edition so special.
The course is tough enough as it is, if you add rain into the mix... I want to see a battle in which the best riders go head to head, not one in which the winner is simply the one who manages to stay on her bike. To be honest, I have no idea what to expect! A top 10 finish, a podium place... More than anything else, I hope to be able to cross the finish line knowing I've got nothing left in the tank."
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