Team Jayco AlUla will line up at this Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix with a mix of youth and experience for the third Monument of the season.
Max Walscheid will be the team’s nominated leader after a solid Classics campaign that has seen him work for others. The tall German has previously finished in the top 10 of the cobbled race – his favourite of the entire year.
Providing the experience around Walscheid will be his compatriot Jasha Sütterlin, who will embark on his ninth Roubaix this weekend, Luka Mezgec, and Elmar Reinders.
New recruit Patrick Gamper will be making his second Roubaix start, while fellow 2025 signings Bob Donaldson and Jelte Krijnsen are set for their debuts at the elite race. Donaldson has previously shown his capabilities on the tough parcours with second at the U23 Paris-Roubaix in 2024, a mini version of the 259.2km route that faces the rides this Sunday.
Team Jayco AlUla
Bob Donaldson (GBR)
Patrick Gamper (AUT)
Jelte Krijnsen (NED)
Luka Mezgec (SLO)
Elmar Reinders (NED)
Jasha Sütterlin (GER)
Max Walscheid (GER)
Max Walscheid
“Roubaix is very important to me, and for the race this Sunday, the worl started already on the 1 November. All of the build-up in the winter, doing the first stage races; AlUla Tour, UAE Tour, and Paris-Nice and then the big Classics period in Belgium is coming to not just an end, but for me personally a culmination. I had good legs in the last races, and I feel that the training build-up has been executed well ahead of the Classics and Paris-Roubaix. In the past few races, and especially in Denain and Gent-Wevelgem, I didn’t have the best of luck but on the other hand I am healthy and in good shape. I’m very much looking forward to lining up on Sunday and being in a very good situation and hopefully ride for a top result in what is, for me, the biggest one-day race in the world.
Roubaix is the biggest goal of my spring campaign, but there are a thousand things that can happen beforehand or during the race. There’s also a question mark about if it will it be wet, which increases the chances of crashes and mechanicals. This is not within my influence, I can only control what is, and I try to tick those boxes as good as possible. Otherwise, I will take it as it comes. I hope that more pieces fall into place at the day itself. I’ve put in all of the work over the past weeks and months, and currently, I am where I should be.”
Mat Hayman (Sport Director)
“We’ve got a mix of youth and experience in the line-up. Max loves this race and has had some very good results in the past. It’s a race that really suits him and he’ll be supported as our leader. We’ll have some strong guys around him. I think we saw in the Tour of Flanders that while the results weren’t what we wanted that the guys were gelling well together and really supporting each other and we really want to carry that through to Roubaix. Paris-Roubaix is the last of the cobbled classics, the last chance to get a result and it’s a special race for me and the team. We’ve spent all these last weeks racing in Belgium and to go over the border, it always feels like we’re on new ground and not everybody knows the roads as well as Belgium.”
Photo: Sprint Cycling
