Paris-Roubaix betting preview, tips & TV details

TV: Eurosport 1, 10am Sunday

Welcome to Hell. Outside the three Grand Tours, one race above all holds a special place in the cycling calendar, the fearsome Paris-Roubaix.

The roll of honour for the race known as the Hell of the North reads like a who's who of the sport and this year's participants are seeking to join Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Sean Kelly and last year's winner Peter Sagan on the honours board.

Victory, however, is easier said than done. Paris-Roubaix is arguably the toughest one-day race of all with 29 sectors of brutal cobbles to be traversed on the road to the iconic Roubaix velodrome.

Three-time world champion Sagan is the favourite to record back-to-back victories but it's fair to say that the Slovakian has not been at his devastating best this spring.

Last year, Sagan powered away from the pack, with only Silvan Dillier for company, to become the first reigning world champion to win the race since Hinault in 1981.

Peter Sagan heads the betting for Paris-RoubaixCredit: Daniel Kalisz

However, at 9-2 he is extremely short given 11th place at last week's Tour of Flanders is his best result of the classics season so far.

Another former Roubaix winner, Greg van Avermaet, ahead of Sagan last Sunday and should give a solid account of himself.

But it may pay to side with a couple of the rising stars of the peloton to land a breakthrough Monument success on Sunday.

Belgian Oliver Naesen has had a fantastic classics campaign, albeit without winning, with a second-placed finish at Milan-San Remo, third at Gent-Wevelgem and seventh in Flanders.

His performance at De Ronde last week was especially creditable given it came after a bout of bronchitis but he has confirmed that he is over his illness and his seventh-place finish certainly backs that up.

The lack of climbing compared to Flanders is also in his favour and he could reward each-way punters at a juicy price.

Former cyclocross world champion Wout van Aert has taken seamlessly to the road, finishing 13th on his first try at the Hell of the North in 2018.

This year he has finished third at Strade Bianchi and second at E3 Harelbeke and looks certain to improve on last season's attempt.

John Degenkolb, another former winner, would be a fitting victor given his troubles with injury over the last few years. He is 10-1 second favourite having been advised at 16-1 in Racing Post Sport's New Year bets in January.

Recommendations
O Naesen
1.5pt each-way 16-1 Betway
W van Aert
1pt each-way 14-1 BoyleSports

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