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Next Monument on the calendar is Paris-Roubaix. Probably the most favorite classic to the public, the race is already on to its 119th edition. This 'Hell of the North' is having the classical start in Compiègne (since 1977) and will finish -traditional as well- on the concrete Vélodrome André Pétrieux.

Everybody loves a winner

Looking at the list of recent winners, it will be probable that we will have a new name on the winners list. As Sonny Colbrelli (due to medical reasons) and Philippe Gilbert will not appear at the start, Peter Sagan and Greg van Avermaet are not yet in a winning form, just like John Degenkolb and Niki Terpstra. The other winners of the last ten years have stopped racing.

Table 1. Last winners

Looking at the list of riders that won Paris-Roubaix the most, we are looking at two Belgian legends: Tom Boonen and Roger De Vlaeminck. Both riders won 'the Hell of the North' four times, De Vlaeminck achieved this feat in just six years!

Table 2. Most wins

It almost looks like you have to be Belgian to win the cobbled classic. In the 118 races done, the country won a stunning 58 editions. Home country France 'only' won 30.

Table 3. Most wins, 2nd, 3rd + last win

The oldest winner of 'La Reine de Classiques' (the Queen of Classics) is French rider Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle. The -then GAN-rider- was 38y229d old when he won his cobble stone in 1993.

Table 4. Oldest winners

Two riders will be able to beat Duclos-Lassalle by being the oldest winner of Paris-Roubaix. The winner of the 2019 edition Philippe Gilbert will be 39y286d and Cyril Lemoine will be 39y45d when they will be starting the race.

Table 5. Oldest competitors

On the other side of the spectrum, there are the youngest winners of the race. The fourth edition of Paris-Roubaix was won by -what's in a name- Albert Champion. The French rider was only 20y362d when he won the race.

Table 6. Youngest winners

Can any rider on this years starting list beat Champion? Yes! American Magnus Sheffield is only still 19 years old when he will be starting this years edition. Next to that, the INEOS Grenadiers rider might be considered a dark horse for the race as he showed great form by winning De Brabantse Pijl last Wednesday.

Table 7. Youngest competitors

There are four team directors in the race that have won the race. Belgian Israel-PremierTech team director Dirk Demol won the 1988 edition, Frances Frédéric Guesdon (Groupama-FDJ) won in 1997, Dutchman Servais Knaven (INEOS Grenadiers) in 2001 and Australia's Mathew Hayman (Team BikeExchange-Jayco) in 2016.

Table 8. Best results in race by team directors

Who will be riding?

Looking at the startlist, there are a lot of big guns entering Sundays Easter ride. The total quality of the start list is 717. You can check the breakdown of the riders in the table below.

Table 9. Startlist quality breakdown

Looking at the favorites, there is one name that pops out: Mathieu van der Poel. The Dutch rider has shown form by winning the previous Monument: the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Combine his current shape with his magnificent bike handling skills and that does justify his role as the main favorite.

Compared to recent years, the starting field isn't as strong as it has been before. The 2021 was the strongest field by far.

Table 10. Startlist quality last 10 editions

Table 11. Favorites (most stars)

The rider with the most starts in Paris-Roubaix is Spanish Imanol Erviti. The 38 year old rider of Movistar Team has already 17 starts under his belt.

Table 12. Most starts in this race

The participants can not all be veteran Paris-Roubaix riders. 31% of the riders ar new to the cobbles of northern France. There is even one rider who is new to racing in the World Tour: Bas Tietema of Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB.

Table 13. Debutants

Table 14. WorldTour debutants