Jens Voigt in the Eurosport interview: tape until the doctor comes – the Paris-Roubaix myth

For the 120th time, Paris-Roubaix (Sunday from 11:25 a.m. from start to finish in the live ticker) is regarding the famous cobblestone as a victory trophy.

Only two German riders are in the list of winners since 1896 at the third of the five monuments of cycling.

The 256 kilometers to the velodrome in northern France are peppered this year with 29 pavé sectors, the total length of which makes up 54.5 kilometers of the route.

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Mr. Voigt, what are the German chances of a top place in the velodrome?

Jens Voigt: The German riders did very well at the Tour of Flanders – and with John Degenkolb there is someone who knows twice how it’s done: he not only won Paris-Roubaix in 2015, but also the stage of the Tour de France there in 2018. Nils Politt was really strong last week, attacking bravely and if he hadn’t missed the riders in front of him by a few meters at the end of the Paterberg, he would have ended up in the top ten. Roubaix is ​​certainly even better for him in terms of racing, which he has already impressively proven with his second place in 2019. He is the greatest hope from a German point of view.

Which drivers should the German fans keep an eye out for?

Voigt: Max Walscheid was also very strong at the ‘Ronde’ and almost seemed to me to be the best German in the race. We can schedule him earlier in Roubaix because the steep ramps in Flanders are not the perfect terrain for a tall, powerful rider like him. Pascal Ackermann has had a number of good performances in the various Belgian races recently and for him there is a very special opportunity on Sunday: if he does well there, whether with a good result or great work for the team, he might qualify for a place in the squad recommend for the Tour de France. Because he only has one chance to make this dream come true: as a sprinter he will only find a place there if he gives up his own chances and offers to take care of Tadej Pogacar as a bodyguard: to protect him on every flat stage, to place him in the field, to give him a slipstream with his stature – this role might be his chance. Then of course he doesn’t win a sprint and there’s the question of what he wants, he’s still young and hungry for his own victories. But I can only say from my experience that many are surprised at how satisfying this role is: When the captain thanks you in the evening for getting through the day stress-free thanks to you, that makes you enormously proud.

Degenkolb’s triumph on cobblestones: the highlights of Paris-Roubaix 2015

Who are the favorites to win Roubaix?

Voigt: There’s no escaping the big names Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, even if every 20 years an early breakaway breaks through – although that doesn’t really happen anymore in modern, data-driven cycling. Van Aert and his whole team will be extremely motivated because they missed out on the podium in Flanders following their impressive winning streak before, which feels like a loss for them. They will line up with anger in their stomachs, develop a precise plan and drive much more dominantly than last Sunday. It’s their last chance at the cobblestone classics – and even if Van Aert doesn’t have his best day, there are two other aces in the team in Christophe Laporte and last year’s winner Dylan van Baarle.

Besides the top favourites, who can still have a say regarding the podium?

Voigt: Mads Pedersen rode a very strong race in Flanders – even though the climbs there are not ideal for a heavy rider like him. I think he will end up very far in front. Then we mustn’t forget Filippo Ganna, who sat out last week. He and his team have meticulously prepared for Paris-Roubaix. Another hot outsider for me is Alexander Kristoff. The Soudal-Quick Step team has a knife on its neck following the lack of success: I don’t want to have to sit as a driver in the team bus at the moment. They will build on Kasper Asgreen, Yves Lampaert and Tim Merlier. The pressure on them is immense, so I might imagine them trying to attack early so as not to have to do exhausting chasing work in the field.

Tadej Pogacar may be skipping Paris-Roubaix, but might he still win at the velodrome if he ignored the race’s risk of falls and put it on his list?

Voigt: Yes, absolutely – no question. Because at the end of such races everyone is tired – and whoever can put even more power on the pedals is in front. The old saying applies to the profile of Paris-Roubaix: “Cobbles replace mountains”. If he sets his mind to it and says he’ll take the risk of a crash and possible retirement from the grand tours to win this monument too, then he definitely can. The form is there and his team is strong enough, we saw that in Flanders.

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How tense are the drivers before the start of such an extreme race?

Voigt: The race itself is just as close to the gladiator fights of ancient Rome as it gets in our modern times. Of course it’s not regarding life and death, but it’s regarding health. It’s a race like no other. Everyone feels the pressure at the start in Compiègne – the crowd of fans and spectators there, the sponsors who are all there on a day like this, the media… Every driver knows how extremely important his role, his task is in a race like this : Regardless of whether you should go into the breakaway group, whether you should keep pace in the field, whether you should get water bottles and rain jackets, whether you should protect and place your captain – everyone has a very important job and the winner can only win if everyone in the team performs its respective job perfectly. The strongest rider in the world might never win in Roubaix alone, he always needs a team and that’s why it’s so stressful for everyone.

How was it for you at your Roubaix premiere in 2001?

Voigt: An anecdote makes this clear: we were on the team bus and everyone started taping their fingers and wrists and I thought – okay, that makes sense with the vibrations on the pavement. But then they went on and taped their shoulders and thighs. So I asked what that was all regarding and the guys said to me: The first fall only the tape comes off, only the second fall it gets the skin! This is Paris-Roubaix: the question is not whether you fall. The only question is how often and how badly you fall. There’s no other race you go into with the certainty that you’re going to fall. If you get hit just once, you’ve had a good day!

At the Tour of Flanders, Team DSM’s tactics caused debates when the riders around Degenkolb & Co. first slowed down the pace with attempts to stand on a climb – and then suddenly started sprinting together: How do you rate the action?

Voigt: Two words come to mind: spiteful and clever. It’s a super successful tactic because they ended up stretching the field so much and hurting the riders at the back so much that it was extremely effective. When they had accelerated once more at the front, the drivers at the back were still crawling. Reestablishing the connection then costs so much energy! You don’t make friends with it, but you want to win, it’s not a popularity contest. That’s why it was really clever, but there must have been a lot of swearing.

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