Who are the bookies' favourites to win 2022 Paris-Roubaix?

Paris-Roubaix takes place this Sunday April 17th and always sees the most exciting action of the year, as the peloton rides through dozens of kilometers of cobbled sectors. Race set for 16-degree sunshine in eastern France

Taking place on Sunday April 17, 'The Hell of the North' will cover 257.2km between Compiègne, northeast of Paris, and Roubaix, near the France-Belgium border. Famous for its tough terrain and cobblestones, the 2022 route features 30 sectors of pavé, adding up to 54.8 kilometres.

Most of the world's best will compete for the coveted Monument, though there likely won't be many former winners of the race competing.

Neither reigning champion will be at this weekend’s race. Lizzie Deignan is expecting her second child, while Sonny Colbrelli is recovering from a cardiac arrest he suffered at the Volta a Catalunya last month.

After last year's wet Paris-Roubaix which has provided for some gruesome action on the cobbles, the forecast for this year's edition is back to it's normal weather as the riders are set to have a dry spell in the narrow roads.

Race director Thierry Gouvenou has said: “I don’t remember the cobblestones being so dry and in good condition. They are extremely dry... Normally you have to fix something after such a course preview, but that is not the case now. We benefit from the work we did in October. I took notice of the Wallers sector. Last fall, it was mossy and swampy, but now we’re seeing the benefit of the work last year.”

“We begged for rain at the organization for a long time and we saw it in 2021. Now we are happy that the sun is back. That ensures much less stress,” he added.

Every year it is very frequent for the cycling fanbase to hope for a wet Paris-Roubaix. Last year that came to be, in which Liezzie Deignan took an incredible win attacking before the cobbled sectors, whilst the men's race saw Sonny Colbrelli conquer a mud-filled race. In both, crashes and injuries came aplenty. "In rainy weather, you eliminate a lot of riders, especially psychologically," Gouvenou said.

“In dry weather, the cards are different. It will go faster and the work of the teams and team tactics will become much more important," he concluded.

The preliminary startlist includes; Greg van Avermaet, Oliver Naesen, Matej Mohoric, Rasmus Tiller, Sep Vanmarcke, Mads Pedersen, Jasper Stuyven, Tim Merlier, Jasper Philipsen, Mathieu van der Poel, Michael Matthews, Alexander Kristoff, Dylan van Baarle, Filippo Ganna, Elia Viviani, Nils Politt, Stefan Bissegger, Victor Campenaerts, Florian Vermeersch, Wout van Aert, Christophe Laporte, Kasper Asgreen, Davide Ballerini, Yves Lampaert, Zdenek Stybar, Florian Sénéchal, Pascal Ackermann, Stefan Küng, Iván Cortina, Hugo Hofstetter, Amaury Capiot, Peter Sagan and Anthony Turgis.

The total prize money available this year in the men's race is €91,000 euros. The winner of 2022 paris-Roubaix will win €30,000 - the third monument of the season and one of the races with the biggest prize money. Subsequent riders will receive €22.000, €15.000, €7.500 and €3.200 respectivelyin the Top 5. The prize money will be distributed between the first 20 riders in the race.

2022 Paris-Roubaix Odds (Oddschecker)

Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Fenix @ 3/1
Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo @ 9/2
Wout van Aert (Bel) Jumbo-Visma @ 7/1
Kasper Asgreen (Den) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl @ 16/1
Stefan Küng (Sui) Grouapam-FDJ @ 16/1
Christophe Laporte (Fra) Jumbo-Visma @ 16/1
Filippo Ganna (Ita) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl @ 16/1
Florian Sénéchal (Fra) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl @ 28/1
Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl @ 33/1
Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers @ 40/1

2022 Paris-Roubaix 30 Cobbled Sectors

Director Thierry Gouvenou, together with Paris-Roubaix Femmes' Franck Perque, have assigned each of the 30 cobbled sectors a rating between one and five stars based on their length, unevenness, overall condition, and location.

Of each sector, the Carrefour de l'Arbre (number 4), Mons-en-Pévèle (11) and Trouée d'Arenberg (19) are the only ones with a five-star rating, while the Vertain à Saint-Martin-sur-Écaillon (26) is back in its longer form alongside the Saulzoir à Verchain-Maugré (24).

A total of 94 stars separate the peloton from the velodrome, down from 95 last year due to the recent refurbishment of the Willems à Hem (2) sector.