Compiègne, France--Geraint Thomas said he was a marked man at last week's Tour of Flanders but hopes the attention on Bradley Wiggins at Sunday's Paris-Roubaix will help him.
The Cobbled Classics season comes to an end with perhaps the most prestigious one-day race in the cycling calendar.
The Queen of the Classics covers 253km with almost 53km of cobbles over 27 different sectors, making Paris-Roubaix a war of attrition.
And although Thomas is better suited to last week's Flanders race, where he finished 14th having come eighth the year before, he believes the furore surrounding Wiggins's last road race before returning to track cycling could work in his favour.
"He's super motivated, he's had this target since November, even before that, so yeah we're looking forward to it," said Thomas about his high-profile Sky teammate.
"This race suits the team as a whole more than Flanders, so we've a few cards to play. As long as there's a Sky jersey on the top step of the podium, that's all we really want."
Thomas says he's got over the disappointment of last week when he went into the race as perhaps the biggest favourite following his E3 Harelbeke victory and third place at Gent-Wevelgem the week before.
"It was obviously disappointing but it was kind of strange being such a marked out man. I'm not really used to that, especially in a race as big as Flanders.
"I didn't quite have it on the day but the form doesn't go away overnight, hopefully it can be a bit different tomorrow.
"In the race it won't just be me they'll be looking at, they'll have to watch the lot of us (Sky riders) so I guess that'll help for sure.
"We've just got to be proactive and ride aggressive, and we'll see what we can do."
AFP
