Despite the team enduring its worst spring classics campaign in years in 2022, Quick-Step Alfavinir boss Patrick Lefebvre is bullish on the team's chances in Paris-Roubaix on Sunday.

The Belgian team has struggled mightily in the spring races in Belgium and the Netherlands, and has not won in the mountains or on cobblestones since Fabio Jacobsen won the Cune Brussel-Cune in February.

Numerous physical problems this spring have kept the Classics leaders off their feet, but there is optimism among the team, including Caspar Asgreen's sixth-place finish in the Amstel Gold Race over the weekend.

"I don't think it's a big secret that Kasper is at a very high level. In my eyes, he was one of the strongest riders on Sunday, but he was too generous and too good for the others."

"So we need to wait a little longer to benefit from the other riders. Our strength has always been to send three or four riders to the final and play the game. Hopefully we can do the same on Sunday

"I don't care who the winner will be, I just want to see who is the best.

Lefebvre said his team is not going to play a defensive race on Sunday afternoon, despite the strength of rival teams Ineos Grenadiers and Jumbo Visma, who have welcomed the return of Wout Van Art in recent weeks.

When asked about Paris-Roubaix tactics, Quick-Step Alphavinir said he was ready to attack.

"We need to understand that other players need to run behind us, not in front of us," Lefebvre said. 'We are not used to being on the defensive. We are an aggressive team,

"If we can use 100 percent of the tools we have, we can be confident. We don't need to panic, we don't need to be nervous. It's a very long race and even if you get a flat tire or have a bad moment, the race is never over."

However, despite his battle plan to go on the offensive with riders such as Asgreen, Yves Lampère, Zdenek Stibal, and Florian Seneschal, Lefebvre could not assure his team of a top finish.

"God only knows," was his answer to the question of whether Sunday would lead to a turnaround for the team after a tough spring.

"It might be the first time in a long time that we've had seven riders with no excuses for injuries or illnesses.

"So I'm hoping for one lucky break in Paris-Roubaix. But until Liège-Bastogne-Liège is over, I will repeat 100,000 times that I will not talk about bad or good results.

"Maybe it was a good thing for us that the race was a week later. It gave us time to recover. But still we have 18 wins and 13 second places.

Lefebvre was also asked about how he kept the team's spirits high and recovered from a bad situation over the past month. Lefebvre replied that he simply stayed away to avoid further stress on the players.

"First of all, I tried to recover by not being around them too much so as not to stress them out.

"I don't think it helps much if someone runs around like a nervous rabbit. I tried to stay calm, of course. But I've learned in my long career that you can't change things in a week or ten days. So let's drink the glass to the bottom and see what it brings."