'I start every race to win' - Mathieu van der Poel fired up ahead of Paris-Roubaix showdown with Tadej Pogačar

Mathieu van der Poel has revealed that he has been suffering from illness during this year's Classics but will return to Paris-Roubaix on Sunday looking to add a third successive victory at the race.

The Dutchman has already won Milan-San Remo and the E3 Saxo Classic in recent weeks, but was bested by Tadej Pogačar at last weekend’s Tour of Flanders. After Pogačar attacked Van der Poel was unable to get back on terms and was later forced to settle for third on the day behind the UAE Emirates-XRG rider and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek).

Speaking ahead of Paris-Roubaix, the former road world champion revealed that he has been suffering from an underlying virus during the last few weeks of action which he said was “made worse” by racing in the cold drizzle of Belgium at E3, which he went on to win.

He said: "By Monday [three days after E3], I felt really under the weather. I ended up on antibiotics, and during Flanders I still wasn’t at 100%, though I was able to defend myself fairly well. In the end, I still made the podium.

"After the Tour of Flanders, I had a bit of a dip again but that's probably not surprising: it was a big effort on Sunday, and I still wasn’t fully recovered. But now it's Friday, and I'm feeling much better. I think I'm reasonably okay to try and defend my title on Sunday."

Despite being under the weather, Van der Poel made clear that his recent illness will not be an excuse on Sunday and explained that Alpecin-Deceuninck's strength in depth means they go into Roubaix as one of the favourites for the win alongside Hell of the North debutant, Pogačar.

"I start every race to win, and this year is no different," he said. "Of course, that's easier said than done, but that's the mindset I bring to the start. And if I'm not at my absolute best, we'll do everything we can to keep the victory within the team. Jasper Philipsen has shown over the past two years that he’s more than capable of winning this race too."

Van der Poel won last year’s edition by almost three minutes after attacking on the Orchies cobbled sector after a late attack saw him distance Wout van Aert 12 months previously. Jasper Philipsen has finished second to his teammate on both occasions.

Much of the pre-race noise has inevitably centred on Pogačar, although Van der Poel warned that multiple teams could play a part in the fight for victory, including Lidl-Trek.

"It's maybe harder to predict than usual," he said. "Pogačar is always a major contender. But in Flanders, we also saw Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen, and Jasper Stuyven performing at a very high level. And then there’s [Filippo] Ganna. Paris-Roubaix might just be the perfect race for him."