Tour de France 2022 Favourites stage 5: Roubaix à La Grande Boucle

So, that’s the Hell of the North at the Tour de France. Who navigates the gauntlet of cobbles best before the finish in Wallers Arenberg?

We are not talking GC riders here. Probably, they will fight a separate battle in the background, while the specialists are going all out at the fornt of the race. The likes of Mathieu van der Poel and Wout Van Aert must rubbing their hands with glee in advance, hoping for the worst weather possible. Sonny Colbrelli is also likely to pray to the weather gods for torrential rains. The Italian won the soaked edition of Paris-Roubaix in October 2021.

Obviously, former winners of the Hell of the North – Philippe Gilbert, Peter Sagan, Greg Van Avermaet, John Degenkolb, Niki Terpstra – and specialists such as Yves Lampaert and Gianni Moscon will have dreams of their own.

At the end of the day, the weather is likely to be crucial, with rains and winds favouring pure specialists. Yet, Van der Poel will want to create a scenario that will suit his cyclo-cross skillset anyway – after all, that’s the kind of rider that he is. So let’s rub our hands in glee also!

We’ll update this article as soon as the Tour de France’s entry list starts to take shape.

Favourites 5th stage 2022 Tour de France

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Another interesting read: route 5th stage 2022 Tour de France.