By Kip Mikler, VeloNews editor, in Compiègne
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When riders roll up to the start line in front of the Place du Palais in Compiegne on Sunday morning for the 101st Paris-Roubaix, there will be only three Americans in the field.
Tony Cruz, 32, will be riding in support of U.S. Postal team leaders Max Van Heejswick and Vietcheslav Ekimov; 30-year-old Fred Rodriguez of Sidermec will be hoping to score a good result for himself. There’s a third American, if count Fassa Bortolo’s “virtual Italian” Guido Trenti, the young man who made his American debut on the U.S. world’s team in Zolder last October. Both Rodriguez and Cruz are recovering from ailments the past couple of weeks and both said on Saturday that they’re feeling confident about their chances in what is predicted to be a dry, fast race to Roubaix.
“I was sick for about a week and just started recovering the middle of this week,” said Rodriguez, who dropped out of last week’s Tour of Flanders. “I feel like I’m coming back into form, though, so I’m hoping for a good day tomorrow.”
Rodriguez scouted some of the pavé sections on Friday, and will have the advantage this year of knowing the course. Last year was the first time he raced at Paris-Roubaix, and having never seen the course, he finished 27th. When asked if he thinks having some experience will help this year, Rodriguez said, “It’s still hard, because we only rode a couple of sections on a training ride yesterday and last year I didn’t see anything, really, because I was blind.”
He also had a broken cleat last year in the horrendous conditions, and rode the last 50km in the rain and muck with one foot popping in and out of his pedal. “The weather’s going to be better this year,” he said.
As to whether that’s good or bad, Rodriguez wasn’t sure. “I think the rain actually suits me well because bike handling skills have a bit of an effect, but either way will be fine with me.”
Will the weather and course conditions affect the way Rodriguez sets up his bike? “I’ve just been trying different tire pressures because when it’s not wet you can run a little higher pressure,” he said. “But you also don’t want to beat up your body too bad, so you’re just trying to figure out what’s going to be more comfortable.”
For Cruz, this will be his third Paris-Roubaix, and like Rodriguez, he’s never ridden it in dry conditions. “I’m actually looking forward to it now,” he said. “And I think we’ll have a tailwind, too, so it should be a little better for me.”
As for his role, Cruz said his job is to get Ekimov and Van Heejswick where they need to be. “I just have to get them both into each cobble section in the first group, and then just try to recover. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep recovering until it comes down to a select group.”
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Ekimov, who showed impressive form at Flanders last week (he finished eighth), said he’s happy about the prospect of having a dry course. “I hope for dry conditions,” he said. “At this race, that’s only good for me. I tried when it was wet and I couldn’t handle the bike.”
Unlike some other teams, Postal riders didn’t go on a reconnaissance mission to scout the course, but Ekimov said the team’s manager Dirk Demol did a thorough inspection and lets the riders know what to expect. “It’s pretty much the same course [as years past], but Dirk makes notes and gives us the information on the radio.”
Paris-Roubaix begins at 11 a.m. Sunday local time. Tune into VeloNews.com beginning at 1:30 (7:30 a.m. Eastern time) for live updates, reports and photos from the Hell of the North.
