Tim Merlier will start the “Hell of the North” on Sunday, as part of a strong team that includes Jasper Stuyven and Dylan Van Baarle.
Tim Merlier will take on Paris-Roubaix, one of the oldest and most prestigious races in the world, which our team has won on six occasions with three different riders. The former European Champion, who is fresh off the back of his victory at Scheldeprijs on Wednesday, in what was just his second racing day of the season, will make his sixth appearance on the cobbles of northern France and is brimming with excitement at the thought of being again at the start.
It’s a race that I love.
“I can’t say that I will go there with big ambitions, which is normal after several months without racing. One thing that I can say for certain is that I’m glad to be at the start of one of the greatest races in the world”, said a smiling Tim.
One of the most consistent riders of this Classics campaign, with top ten results in Milano-Sanremo, In Flanders Fields, and De Ronde, Jasper Stuyven is another Soudal Quick-Step rider who can’t wait to tackle the race which he has an affinity with since winning the junior version in 2010, as the reigning World Champion. Sixteen years later, the Belgian has ten Roubaix starts and three top-ten finishes, and is confident he can play an important role again this weekend.
“Obviously, Paris-Roubaix is a race I’m always looking forward to. It’s been a while since I had a good race there, but I hope to take my good legs and shape from the past weeks to the cobblestones of France. It’s a race that I just love, a race from which I have great memories ever since I was there as a junior. I hope to fight for a podium and leave it all out there. It would be great to do better than the fourth place that I had in the past, that would be a great conclusion to my Classics campaign”, Jasper said ahead of his 11th participation.
Soudal Quick-Step’s team for the 123rd edition of the French Monument will feature also 2022 winner Dylan Van Baarle, Yves Lampaert, a top-three finisher here in 2019, Dries Van Gestel, Bert Van Lerberghe, and Jonathan Vervenne.
We have quite a strong team for Sunday.
“Dylan is a former winner on the velodrome, while Jasper is always consistent in these races, and we can aim for a good result. It’s a race that also suits Yves, who has had some good results here. Tim, Bert and Dries bring in a lot of experience, while Jonathan - our neo-pro - will gain experience and get used to this race, which for sure is something that will help him in the future”, added sports director Tom Steels.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
