Haussler: In Paris-Roubaix, anything can happen
No Classic smiles upon the outsider with quite the same regularity as Paris-Roubaix, which only makes the ill fortune it doles out seem all the more cruel. Perhaps as many as a third of the 175 riders who retire to their hotel rooms in the hinterland of Compiègne on Saturday evening will privately allow themselves to think, "Maybe, just maybe," only to be jarringly disabused of the notion by some mishap or another on Sunday afternoon.
The road to Roubaix is paved with broken dreams, but Heinrich Haussler (Bahrain-Merida) has more reason than most dreamers to believe in his chances in the Hell of the North. The Australian's pedalling has drawn admiring glances from his peers in the peloton over the past two weeks in Flanders, and, despite all his injury and bad luck over the years, he has a real pedigree in this race.
As a debutant in 2005, Haussler rode nonchalantly to 25th. He took 7th in his Cervélo pomp in 2009, and 11th four years later at the end of another solid Spring. On Haussler's last appearance two years ago, he won the sprint for 6th, a minute after Mat Hayman, had upset Tom Boonen to win the race.
Small wonder, then, that Haussler is upbeat about his prospects. After losing almost all of 2017 to a knee injury, he asked only for a clear run at the current campaign, and he performed solidly in Belgium in support of Sonny Colbrelli and Vincenzo Nibali. At Paris-Roubaix, by contrast, he will ride for himself.
"I have super legs. I noticed in Flanders that I could be there, the distance wasn't affecting me," Haussler said. "I didn't have the big, big power on the Kwaremont or the Paterberg to follow but Roubaix is a different race. Roubaix suits me better than Flanders. I'm here to do the best race possible and if I'm there, I know I'll be in the top group.
"It's just about getting through the race without crashes or flat tyres. I don't want to talk about it because when you talk about it, it happens, but it's just the thing: in Roubaix anything can happen. Just look at the winners of the past five or six years, it's always a different group of riders in the final. When you believe you can do it, it's possible.”
Tailwind
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