Nicola Rutzou
This weekend, my favourite one-day race of the year, the Paris-Roubaix, is finally here.
The men’s race (Sunday, 13 April), with a very long history (2025 is the 122nd edition), is an epic 259.2km with 55.3km of cobble sectors. Everyone is talking about Tadej Pogačar’s first attempt at the race, speculating that he will likely win. Still, the great thing about Paris-Roubaix is its unpredictability, and underdogs sometimes rise up. Think Matt Hayman’s win in 2016.
Other contenders for the men’s race include the in-form Mathieu van der Poel, who has won the past two editions of the race, the hungry Wout van Aert, van der Poel’s teammate Jasper Philipsen, Dane Mads Pedersen, Jasper Stuyven (maybe we could have one/two of Jaspers), Filippo Ganna, and the list goes on.
The women’s race (Saturday, 12 April) is only on its 5th edition, but it’s already cemented itself as an important race on the women’s calendar. The women race over 148.5km with 29.2km of cobbles, and Lotte Kopecky, off her Tour of Flanders win, is touted as a likely winner, but once again, there are lots of contenders for the title.
The women’s race has an equal star-studded line-up with reigning Under-23 Cross World Champ Zoe Bäckstedt, the ageless Dutch superstar Marianne Vos, Italy’s Elisa Balsamo, and up and coming Dutch rider Puck Pieterse. Aussie women contesting the race include Georgia Baker, Amber Pate and Josie Talbot.
Both races can be seen on SBS.
Image credit: Sirotti.it
