One of the questions posed to Soudal-Quick Step at the team press conference before Sunday's Paris-Roubaix was a straightforward one: who do you think will win Paris-Roubaix?

At first only Kasper Asgreen raised his hand, but four other riders did.

There was a jovial atmosphere in the spacious showroom of team sponsor Renson, but there was truth in the riders' responses, as the Spring Classic campaign had been brutally disappointing for the Belgian team.

With two of the "big three" of this year's Classic, Wout Van Aert and Mathieu Van Der Pol, lining up at the start of the Compiègne, few pundits are convinced that the team will add six cobbled trophies.

But if they do win their first title since 2019 on Sunday and add a 62nd cobbled classic victory in 20 years, Asgreen stands out as the man most likely to win. The 28-year-old Dane, who finished seventh in last weekend's Tour of Flanders, told Cycling News that "things are looking up."

"I think a lot of things went wrong, tactically and also because a lot of riders got sick and we had to change the roster," Asgreen summed up his team's classic campaign.

"I think it ultimately worked out well in Flanders.

"So we are on the right track and getting better and better. I think we need to continue our run in Flanders and hopefully we can be on that stage again - if we can take one or two teammates with us, even better."

After a knee injury suffered in last year's Tour de Suisse ruined the second half of the 2022 season, Agreen spent the off-season playing catch-up and is now finally approaching top form.

"It took me a long time to get back," he said. Last year I got my knee fixed in the fall and was able to resume training as usual in November." But after four months of no structured training, I suddenly had a huge gap to fill.

"My knee was still fine, but after the injury I was working on building muscle mass in my left leg again. It took a little longer than I had hoped, but now at least the base condition seems to be finally in place.

"Flanders requires a more explosive effort than Roubaix, so Roubaix should be much better with the current conditions. Sustaining high power is easy when you have base conditions."

Still, he has already proven with his results in Flanders that he can race in the long cobbled Monument final. He and his Soudal-Quick Step teammates were nowhere near the lead two of Tadej Pogachar and Mathieu van der Poel, but they are hoping that the change in terrain will change things.

"Going deep into the end of a long race is something I can clearly do, otherwise I wouldn't be in the finale of a 280km race like Flanders," Asgreen said. So going into Sunday, I am confident that I have the fitness and ability to do that." [But first I have to get there. The last three times I competed in Roubaix, it never worked out.

"In general, I don't believe much in bad luck. 'Bad luck always seems to find the same riders. I need to rethink my driving style a bit.

"So I've spent a lot of time scouting the cobblestones and honing my technique on how to ride them.

With Tom Boonen (four times), Niki Terpstra, and Philippe Gilbert, Quick Step has celebrated more victories on the Roubaix velodrome than any other team in recent years. It may not have the standout stars of Boonen, Van Aert, and Van der Pol, but it still has three contenders and is as well-rounded as almost any team in the peloton.

Yves Lampert, who finished second to Gilbert on the podium in 2019, joins local Florian Senechal (6th in 2019) in Asgreen. Tim DeClercq, Davide Ballerini, Tim Mellier, and Bert Van Lerberghe complete a strong team.

"As you can see, we have seven strong riders, all with experience from Paris-Roubaix," said team director Wilfred Peters (himself a two-time podium finisher in this event).

"It's different from the Tour de Flanders, but we are not a big contender. We need to have as many riders as possible in the final. That way we can compete with Jumbo and Alpecin."

Lampaert, who finished third in the Bruges des Pins classic, was the team's best finisher in the top-level classic. Lampaert, who heads to his eighth Roubaix on Sunday, has three top-10 finishes and a podium finish to his credit.

"It's not always the winner that wins the race, and it's not always the strongest," he said. Everyone has a chance."

"I'm very motivated. It's a mythical race and one day the pieces will fit together. Monument is the best fit for me. I already have great results here and I can dream of more."

"Last week was a good level and I want to keep it up. I expect to be on the podium with my team and like many others, I want to see what the spring season brings."

Spring cobbled classic campaigns are often boom or bust, with relative "off years" of only minor race wins like 2020, 2022, and this season being offset by the Vikings piling up wins in 2018, 2019, and 2021.

"Of course I want to win, but even if I have a great classic season, I want to win here," Asgreen said.

"A win or a podium finish in Roubaix would make up for a lot of the results we've had. It's one of those races that can save your whole spring campaign."

"Pressure is a strange concept for me. It doesn't matter how much we have accumulated or what the results have been. We always want to win everything."