South African Jay Thomson is a relieved man ahead of what he says is expected to be another dry Paris-Roubaix when the 117th edition of the race takes place from Compiegne, France, on Sunday.
When asked about the weather in a Twitter video by his Dimension Data team, the 32-year-old said there were no high temperatures forecast and it looked like there would be no rain.
“Sunday is supposed to be pretty similar to what today [yesterday] is,” said Thomson, who added that the temperature during their recon ride yesterday was around 10°C.
It’s recon day ahead Sunday’s ‘Hell of the North’.@JayRThomson can’t wait to tackle the pavé again… 🖐️ pic.twitter.com/ap4MLFMRch
— Team Dimension Data (@TeamDiData) April 11, 2019
Wet weather conditions play an important role in the race as rain causes the 29 cobblestone sectors to become even more tricky and risky than they already are in dry conditions.
The first of these sectors comes after 96.5km.
The last wet Paris-Roubaix, also known as The Hell of the North, took place 17 years ago.
Thomson, who finished 54th last year, said he would be trying out gloves for the 257km race.
“I’ll have a look and see how the cobbles feel with the gloves on, but my hands are a bit harder than last year.”
