Filippo Ganna braced for 'torture' at Paris-Roubaix: 'It's up to them to drop me'

Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Ganna acknowledged that defending champion Mathieu van der Poel and Ronde winner Tadej Pogacar are the favourites for Paris-Roubaix, and he made light of the idea of trying to anticipate their moves on Sunday.

“But if they go at 100km to go, what can I go? Attack in Compiègne?” quipped Ganna, who won the under-23 Paris-Roubaix but has never finished higher than sixth in the elite event. 

Ganna confessed that he had never been truly enamoured with the jagged pavé of the Hell of the North and conceded that he didn’t have the same aptitude for the race as Van der Poel.

“I haven’t found love for it yet, and I never will. I’d love to have a face-to-face chat with someone who has,” Ganna said. “It’s hard to explain, but it’s a pain that can turn into torture in a sporting sense. 

“If we take Van der Poel, who’s a master of cyclo-cross, he can spot those 10cm at the side of the road without cobblestones. He has the ability to stay balanced and ride over it... The more skilled and shrewd you are, the less effort it takes. Compared to him, I’m a complete goat on a bike, so if I try a trick like that, I’ll end up in the ditch.”

Ganna described his mood as “happy and calm” before Paris-Roubaix, insisting that he was not carrying any kind of pressure into the race.

“We saw it in Flanders: Pogacar, Van der Poel, Van Aert, Pedersen… They have shown more and it’s up to them to drop me and make me suffer,” he said. “My job is clear: hang on to them and then maybe anticipate them or beat them in a sprint. I’m not putting pressure on myself.”

Although Ganna opted against the Tour of Flanders, he did carry out a recon of Paris-Roubaix last week and made some adjustments as a consequence.

“We lowered the pressure of the tyres a little bit, so the bike will be a bit ‘softer,’” Ganna said. “It was a good test. I hope it doesn’t rain, in any case. In one of the first sectors, maybe the second or third, there’s a descent with an off-camber corner at 90 degrees. If it’s wet there, it’s a mess…”