Who are the bookies' favourites for Paris-Roubaix 2021?

There are two stand-out favourites according to the bookies for the upcoming 'Hell of the North'

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Philippe Gilbert beating Nils Politt to the line at the 2019 Paris-Roubaix
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Paris-Roubaix is finally almost upon us - but who is the bookies' favourite to top the step and lift the cobblestone trophy?

Taking place on Sunday, October 3 the men's edition of Paris-Roubaix is set to be a tough one as it is looking like it will be the first wet edition since 2002, over the 257km route from Compiègne to the outdoor velodrome in Roubaix after 29 brutal cobbled sectors.

Unfortunately, we couldn't find odds for the first-ever women's Paris-Roubaix, but we've compiled the men's odds. 

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In the men's 118th running of the event, two riders are standing out for the bookies, even with the relatively poor showings, by their standards, at the recent road World Championships in Flanders, Belgium.

Second in line for the win is someone who is perhaps doing the opposite to Van Aert after coming back from injury - Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) managed a strong eighth place considering he's coming back to form from his back injury. The bookies have set him at 5/1.

The reigning champion, Gilbert hasn't had the best last two seasons with Lotto-Soudal and sits down at 125/1.

Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) is another rider who didn't have a great Worlds, finishing 26th, but he is still given 14/1. Three Deceuninck - Quick-Step riders are in the mix too with Florian Sénéchal, Zdeněk Štybar and Kasper Asgreen at 16/1, 20/1 and 25/1 respectively.

Second place at the Worlds, Dylan van Baarle isn't even the highest places Ineos Grenadiers rider according to the bookies, even though the route suits a rider like Van Baarle, with the Dutchman sitting at 33/1. 

The runner-up in the last edition of the race in 2019, Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe) sits at the same odds as Van Baarle at 30/1. 

Swiss star Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) is another rider who should suit the race, he's at 50/1. Another former runner-up, Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Fenix) is at 400/1.

Tim Bonville-Ginn
Tim Bonville-Ginn

Tim Bonville-Ginn is a freelance writer who has worked with Cycling Weekly since 2020 and has also written for many of the biggest publications in cycling media including Cyclingnews, Rouleur, Cyclist and Velo.