Our team has several cards to play on Sunday.
This year’s Junior Paris-Roubaix is five kilometers shorter than the previous edition, but has an extra pavé sector which comes in the opening 20 kilometers, creating a density of cobbles early in the day that is guaranteed to have an impact on the race. One by one, these segments will thin out the peloton to the point only a reduced group will still be in contention by the point they enter the legendary Carrefour de l’Arbre, the last key point on the parcours.
Simon Defrance has been one of the standout junior riders this season, winning Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, Nokere Koerse, and STER Van Zuid Limburg. The 17-year-old Frenchman made his Paris-Roubaix debut last year and will go into the race with the hope of being in the mix. Joining him at the start line on the Soudal Quick-Step U19 team will be Marwan Barhoumi, Viktor Devos, Maksymilian Matyasik - a top-three finisher in two stage races this year - Valentin Petillon, and Jakub Tesarik.
“We go to Paris-Roubaix with ambitions after the recent races and results. Looking at our team, you can see it’s a strong one and has several riders who can be in contention. So far this season, we’ve raced like a real Wolfpack and we are ready to do that again on Sunday, to fight for our chances and work hard in order to get the best possible result”, said with confidence sports director Steven De Landtsheer.
Photo credit: ©Wout Beel
