"People say Paris-Roubaix is a great race, but it's not. It's fun for people watching it on television or from the side of the road, sitting in a camper. But the racers can't say they like it You have to be a little crazy to love Roubaix. It's a painful race, it puts a strain on your body."
At 26, Filippo Ganna is in the prime of his competitive career and has already demonstrated his ability to resist fatigue.
Yet the giant from Verbania - already winner of the under 23 race in 2016 - looks with a mixture of hate and love at the classic that he will try to win on Sunday: "Last year (when 35/o arrived ed) I was ill a few weeks before I wasn't at my best. This time it's very different. I have good reason to believe it."
"Riding on a smooth track is not comparable to the effort to produce on bumpy roads - premised Ganna, two-time world champion in the time trial (2020, 2021) and five times in the individual pursuit (2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022) , as well as the world hour record holder - Roubaix is made up of intense efforts interspersed with periods of, relative, recovery on the asphalt. I don't really like these changes of pace, but that's how it is".
To better prepare, he skipped the Tour of Flanders last weekend ("I'm too heavy to climb those walls well") and devote himself to training and reconnaissance.
"Experience has taught me that you have to be very fresh when you approach this race."
And during "the principle will be the same: economize as much as possible, arrive as fresh as possible at the Trouée d'Arenberg (about 100 kilometers from the finish, ed). Then it won't be possible anymore, then it will be hellish".
