In the foreground, Florian Sénéchal -

Shutterstock / SIPA

In the Decueninck-Quick Step family, we no longer present Julian Alaphilippe.

But it would be as cruel as it would be dishonest to reduce the Belgian formation to its world champion in view of the army of madmen who compose it.

On the line: Sam Bennett, João Almeida, Kasper Asgreen without forgetting Remco Evenpoel.

Difficult to find a place in the middle of these beautiful people.

This is the tour de force that Florian Sénéchal plans to achieve on the cobblestones of Flanders and northern France - if Paris-Roubaix is ​​maintained.

With some success for the moment, since the former Cofidis has just finished 2nd in GP E3 and 3rd in Bredene.

The victory is there, not far away.

And he needs it.

At the end of his contract with Quick-Step, the Frenchman is determined to show up with a pile of good results in Patrick Lefévère's office when it comes to negotiating a new lease.

How are the legs?

It seems to be going in view of the latest results.

The condition was pretty good during the Bredene Classic [interview done before GP E3].

I was better than the previous weeks.

Paris-Nice has done me good and I feel that with each training I have good feelings.

It will go crescendo, it was planned but I am still reassured about my condition and I know that I will be present in the next races.

Then there is now and there (laughs).

I'll be there, but from there to saying "I'm going to win", I don't know.

I hope so !

I will do my best.

You've been with Deucenick-Quick Step for three years and a little longer if you count your younger years.

What characterizes this team from the inside?

You can never rest on your laurels in this team.

It is not a vacation center.

If there is a period when you are in condition, you are naturally going to be put aside since everyone is strong.

You know in your head that if you're not on top, if you don't improve, you're going to stay a teammate or you won't be in the races you want.

To assert yourself, you don't just have to do a feat in a single race, you have to be consistent all year round.

That's also why everyone is strong in the team, because everyone gives their all all year round.

There is competition in the team to be as fit as possible, but it creates a good spiral.

Every runner has a role in the races.

With us, you can't start a race saying “we'll see” or “I don't care, I'm staying in the peloton and I'm waiting for it to happen”.

No, when you come to a race, it's because you have a role to play so you have to be in good condition.

Having a card to play in a great race when you're in this team, it's already a bit of an achievement in itself, then?

Yes, once you've proven yourself we'll give you a chance.

It's normal but it's not easy to get there.

Suddenly I have my card, suddenly I know I have to bring the sprint for Sam Bennett, suddenly I know I have to ride for Julian when it's really, really hard.

It suits me perfectly.

Each role is important, I am also proud of my role as a team member, to be able to start the sprints in the last few meters.

When things go well, I also find some satisfaction there.

At the start of 2021 Bennett had indeed won a lot, but neither were you, you were not far in Almería or in Belgium…

Yes, but I ran into faster than me in the sprint.

The races were not very hard.

If we look at Omloop or the Samyn, these are races that did not allow us to make big selections beforehand.

Paris-Nice was tough but the sprints were easy.

It was only in Bredene where the race was tough even if it ended in a sprint, but it was also the weather that wanted it.

We will now see on the races that will come.

This is where we will see if I am able to win a race, but what is certain is that it will not be a peloton of 30 riders who will compete for a sprint at the finish.

You said a month ago that you had the weapons to compete with Van Aert and Van der Poel.

Do you persist?

In a cobbled bump like a Quaremont it's hard even to follow them.

And afterwards, in the sprint, they are also very, very fast.

In races like Gand Wevelgem or the Tour of Flanders or even Paris-Roubaix, it will be the collective that will play.

When I say that I feel able to compete 50-50 with them, it's more on Paris-Roubaix, because it's my favorite race and it's a terrain that I really like given my heavier weight than others.

On Paris-Roubaix, I have more advantage in strength than on very steep cobbled mountains.

So I know I have a really better chance of beating them there.

But I am relying a lot on one point, which is that our collective is our strength.

To beat these two champions, we just have to make this collective play because they are very strong on all terrains.

It's not easy to beat them on the pedal so you have to go about it differently.

How do we beat Van der Poel and Van Aert, exactly?

It can be like in Milan-San Remo where a good strong rider attacks and the big boys look at each other, knowing that they have two Quick Steps in the wheel waiting and another who has attacked.

That's the best situation we can have [this strategy allowed Kasper Asgreen to win E3].

This is what we can do to hope to beat them.

We saw in San Remo that Van Aert was really stronger but he got tricked because he was looking at Julian, Kwiatkowski and Van der Poel.

Jasper Stuyven was able to take advantage of it by being smart and beefy at the time.

We must take an example from what he has done.

The idea is really to succeed in neutralizing them so as not to arrive at the sprint with them?

I think Julian is the fastest in the moguls but maybe not strong enough to let go of a Van der Poel on short moguls.

So even if Julian is the strongest, if they get two or three, Mathieu will be the fastest in top speed.

These are not easy situations to play but we have a lot of cards in our hands and I'm sure we'll get there if we ride together and to the fullest.

How is Julian?

He had a stage victory over Tirreno, he finished 2nd in the Strade Bianche and attacked a lot at the start of the season…

He told me he was surprised to be in good shape already so early, that he didn't expect to be there at the end of March.

He will rest after Tirenno and Milan and then gain pressure.

In my opinion, on the Tour of Flanders and the Ardennes he will do something.

I feel him more confident than in other years, he trains even better, he is calmer.

He carries the role of world champion well.

He has confidence in himself, he knows what he is doing.

How's he in the band, Julian?

A little bit of everything !

He's super jovial, he's someone who likes to talk and laugh a lot.

He has a lot of passions so he doesn't just talk about cycling, and it's true that he's someone who likes to mess around for nothing.

When you're at the table with Julian, you don't get bored.

Do you upset him a bit with his arms raised too early before the line?

No no not at all.

We don't rate him on that.

Florian Sénéchal celebrates his 2nd place in the GP E3 won by his teammate Kasper Asgreen.

A collective victory - Shutterstock / SIPA

Coming back to the news, there is more and more talk of a cancellation of Paris-Roubaix.

What do you think and do you, the runners, plan to make your voice heard?

We runners have nothing to say, it's more political.

When you hear politicians talking about Paris-Roubaix, it's just a “coursette”.

I am ok with the fact that there is a health crisis and I am ok to say that it is not logical that we let a bicycle race take place when part of the population is confined.

But afterwards, you have to know that it counts for us riders, but also for the staffs, the sponsors, and the bike brands.

Paris-Roubaix is ​​a great showcase for cycling around the world.

Millions of people watch the race.

What consequences would a cancellation have?

To do that two years in a row is to prevent runners like me from proving their worth.

And that weighs on the sponsors who have invested in the race for two years without it taking place.

Ultimately, that will make sponsors less.

For bike brands like Specialized who provide us with a special bike for Paris-Roubaix, it's also a loss.

Personally I count a lot this race because I am at the end of the contract and I very much hope to make a result there to prove my worth and to negotiate a contract for the next two years.

If I have a bad day on the Tour of Flanders, I can tell myself that I still have Paris-Roubaix to make up for it.

So that if it's canceled and I miss Flanders, what do I say to Patrick Lefévère?

"I was unlucky, what do we do?"

It's the world of sport, it's double or nothing.

I put a lot of pressure on myself to succeed and it's frustrating when a politician says to himself that he does not want the race for the image or for the logic.

Especially since the sanitary bubble works quite well in cycling ...

You should know that our staff and we are screened three times a week.

I did the math.

It's very strict in the world of cycling, we should even take our system as an example.

We are really serious and it hurts the heart to all the energy we give when we see that one or more people do not want us to do Paris-Roubaix.

It's a shame for the image of the North.

Two cancellations in a row, it would be really sad for the bike.

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Paris-Roubaix: When the French think about canceling, the Belgians do not even ask the question for the Tour of Flanders

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