Winning the Queen of the Classics is the dream of a lifetime for an entire category of riders called "Flandriens" as well as for great champions who attribute particular prestige to the Paris-Roubaix Hauts-de-France. But beyond the 95 different winners (5 for women), the history of the event is also marked by top-tier riders who repeatedly stumble at this objective, achieve podium finishes, lose consecration due to a mishap, a puncture at the wrong moment. What did Adrie van der Poel need to win in the 1980s at the velodrome where his son triumphed in three consecutive editions? And Juan Antonio Flecha who came close to the feat multiple times on the cobblestones of the North? And Marianne Vos who has won everywhere? Do the memories of the podium taste bitter only for Zdenek Stybar, Steve Bauer or Lorena Wiebes? Questions and answers in a series of six interviews, produced in collaboration with ASO, that will accompany us until the appointment on April 12.

Until not long ago, the Classics were unexplored territory for Spanish cyclists. Whenever a Spanish team was forced, by regulation or sponsor requests, to participate in Paris-Roubaix, sports directors would ask riders to raise their hands during a retreat and volunteer for what was presented as an unfortunate expedition into the unknown. Two or three young prospects would sign up, and the remaining spots would be filled by lower-level riders, out of form, with the mandate to withdraw at the first feed zone. Juan Antonio Flecha was different: a sort of pioneer. During his first year with Banesto (today Movistar Team), he told sports director Eusebio Unzué that he wanted to race in the Hell of the North, hoping to convince him to send a team to Roubaix. "He told me he would take me there when I was good enough to win," Flecha recalls.

DOES IT HURT TO FINISH SECOND?
Juan Antonio Flecha discovered the Classics thanks to videotapes that a Danish friend lent him when they were in high school. "Back then in Spain you could only watch the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix through satellite TV. I watched those videotapes constantly. I was obsessed with them and learned the routes by heart".

Matters of the heart go well beyond (sporting) reason. "Roubaix is not just about winning or losing. It's a race that gives you much more than a simple victory. Reaching the velodrome is already a triumph that many riders dream of".

That's why the fact that he failed to win it doesn't torment him. "Paris-Roubaix chooses its winners. And sometimes its choices are unfair. Yet I prefer to respect the dynamics of this race: it has crowned many brilliant champions and also some outsiders like Johan Vansummeren or Matthew Hayman, who earned success through consistency, year after year, working for other riders. It's a capricious race, and sometimes its whims haven't favored me. Sometimes I lost because someone else was stronger, other times because of my own fault. I don't need to look beyond that. I just have to accept it".

2009, THE MOMENT HE FELT CLOSEST TO VICTORY
Already a two-time winner of Paris-Roubaix, Tom Boonen decided to shake things up in the 2009 edition and reduced the leading group to six riders in the Mons-en-Pévèle section: with him, Pozzato, Hushovd, Vansummeren, Hoste and Flecha. "It was a very strong group - recalls the Spaniard -. We were working well together and I felt great". Flecha decided to launch a decisive attack at Carrefour de l'Arbre, but crashed on the first turn of this legendary sector, bending the chainrings of his bike and preventing the chain from turning as it should. Game over. "Once I found a moment alone, I burst into tears like I had never done in my life for a race. I didn't know if I would have won, but I thought it was unfair not to have even had the chance to play my cards, even if it was my own fault. Today I realize that I didn't deserve to win that day, even though I had the necessary experience and thought I had played my cards well...".

There's another time when Flecha felt he deserved to raise his arms to the sky at Roubaix. "In 2005, when I sprinted for victory with Boonen and Hincapie. But it was the first time I found myself in such a situation and my shoulder hurt so much, because of a crash during training, that I couldn't even lift myself on the pedals to attack. When the moment came, I ruined everything and my two rivals beat me without any problem".

TOM BOONEN, HIS GREATEST RIVAL
"I'm proud to have been present when Tom Boonen won his first Paris-Roubaix - states Flecha -. He's the rival who made the greatest impression on me". A long-distance attack by the Belgian legend in the 2012 edition of the Hell of the North is a clear example of this thought: "I remember that, in my second-to-last participation, he attacked quite far from the finish. My Team Sky teammates and I tried to catch him and at Mons-en-Pévèle I accelerated to make up ground. I came close, but it was impossible for me to get on his wheel. That duel showed how superior he was to me".

Flecha raced for two years at Fassa Bortolo with the other great Roubaix specialist of his era, Fabian Cancellara (winner of the race in 2006, 2010 and 2013). "I could stay with him on the pavé. Every time he pulled away from me, it was because of tactical circumstances that prevented me from reacting immediately. Boonen was simply a step above me". Another illustrious former teammate of Flecha's is Matthew Hayman, the man with whom he raced at Roubaix the most times, with Rabobank (3 times) and Team Sky (3 times). "I was so happy when he won in 2016. He really deserved it..."

SOLITUDE, THE MAIN CHALLENGE OF PARIS-ROUBAIX HAUTS-DE-FRANCE
Flecha explains how most races are challenging precisely because of their topography, and Roubaix is an exception: "There's practically no elevation gain, and the difficulties come from other factors". The Catalan rider highlights a particular aspect that no elevation profile could ever describe: solitude. "Paris-Roubaix is the race where you feel most alone, and the one that best embodies the adventurous spirit of the pioneers of road cycling. Right now I'm passionate about ultra-endurance racing, events that make me feel like at Roubaix, because technical support wasn't always available. Your team can have staff at every sector, ready to help you if problems arise, but how many riders managed to finish the race only because a spectator gave them a hand, or because they found their own way out of trouble?".

He still dreams of situations where he was chasing groups, aware that in case of mechanical failure, the team car would be kilometers away and his race would be over. "I really do. And I see myself pedaling on one of those pavé sectors, in the middle of nowhere, with the wind blowing from all directions, with the feeling of opening a new road through the fields".

Flecha, the pioneer, has only one regret in this beautiful love story with Paris-Roubaix. "I never had the luck to enjoy a wet edition of the race. There was some mud on the pavé in 2005, but only because it had rained in the days before. When I decided to retire from professional cycling, I was crossing my fingers hoping that the next edition wouldn't take place in bad weather. It would have made me so angry!".

THE PROFILE

Juan Antonio Flecha
Born September 17, 1977 in Junín (Argentina). Spanish nationality, lives in Castelldefells, near Barcelona.

Teams: Relax-Fuenlabrada (2000-2001), iBanesto.com (2002-2003), Fassa Bortolo (2004-2005), Rabobank (2006-2009), Team Sky (2010-2012), Vacansoleil (2013).

Major victories: Stage 11 Tour de France 2003 / Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2010 / Zurich Championship 2004 / Lazio Tour 2004 / Franco-Belgian Circuit 2008

Paris-Roubaix Results: 2003: 25th / 2004: 13th / 2005: 3rd / 2006: 4th / 2007: 2nd / 2008: 12th / 2009: 6th / 2010: 3rd / 2011: 9th / 2012: 4th / 2013: 8th

ALREADY PUBLISHED

Adrie Van der Poel

Steve Bauer