Team Sky won’t line up in Compiègne on Sunday with a top favourite for Paris-Roubaix, but in Luke Rowe and Ian Stannard, they have two leaders who have both been riding upward curves the past couple of seasons, and should complement each other to make an impact on the sharp end of the race.
Despite suffering from a sore throat since the Tour of Flanders last Sunday, Rowe told Cyclingnews he has never approached the Hell of the North with such confidence. After something of a breakthrough eighth place at the race last year, this season the Welshman has proved to himself and to his rivals that he belongs at that level.
He started his Classics campaign by sparking the crucial move at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, spending the day with Peter Sagan, Greg Van Avermaet and Tiesj Benoot and taking fourth, while his fifth place at Flanders on Sunday was not only his best ever finish at the race but also Team Sky’s.
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“I’m on a bit of a high at the moment – everything seems to be going well,” Rowe told Cyclingnews in Antwerp ahead of Scheldeprijs on Wednesday. “Roubaix’s the preferred race, it’s where my heart lies, I prefer it as a race and I think it suits me better as a rider.
“I had a slight sore throat the past couple of days, that’s a bit of a pain. Scheldeprijs is about taking it easy – as easy as you can take a pro race – and trying to recover before Sunday.”
Stannard won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2014 and 2015, but shook up his race programme this year by skipping the traditional ‘opening weekend’ in Belgium in late Ferbruary in the hope of making a bigger impact in the Monuments of early April.
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