Paris-Roubaix 2022: Rider ratings – Mathieu Van der Poel the man to beat, Stefan Kung the dark horse

With the 119th edition of Paris-Roubaix reverting to its spring-time slot in the calendar and warm, dusty conditions forecast in northern France, we run through the main contenders for the third Monument of the season, the co-called Hell of the North. In the absence of defending champion Sonny Colbrelli and the 2018 winner Peter Sagan, it’s highly likely that we see a new man on top of the podium on Sunday – unless veterans Philippe Gilbert, John Degenkolb, Greg van Avermaet and Niki Terpstra pull an unlikely result from the bag.

Ad/> Paris-Roubaix 2022: Can Van Aert take Van der Poel down? Sagan set to miss Paris-Roubaix with illness, thwarting latest comeback attempt /> Paris — Roubaix'An amazing job!' — Blythe hails the work of Van den Broek-Blaak at Paris RoubaixAN HOUR AGO FIVE STAR: VAN DER POEL One man stands clear ahead of Paris-Roubaix and he needs no introduction. He did the Flandrien double with wins in Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Ronde before taking a solid fourth place at Amstel Gold last weekend.

Finished third last year in his debut, Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) has the hunger and the legs and the skillset to go two better and keep his stellar spring run going. FOUR STAR: PEDERSEN, KUNG, VAN AERT Had he not been struck down by Covid just over a fortnight ago, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) would have probably entered this race on a par with his old rival.

But there's no knowing how the Belgian champion will bounce back on the cobbles after so long on the sidelines and recovering from what can be a debilitating illness – just as Sagan. If Van Aert gets four stars largely for his reputation and prior form alone, then Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ) occupy the same spot by