“It’s the toughest one-day race out there, so I’m happy to be on the podium, but to be honest, you want to win it. You’re not racing for second or third,” he says.

“But I’ve got no regrets. I raced how I raced. I didn’t want to come into the velodrome with [Tom] Boonen and Edvald [Boasson Hagen] to sprint against.”

Rouleur

With a build closer to that of a nightclub doorman than a professional cyclist, Stannard seems at first glance a poor fit for a team built on the scientific ‘aggregation of marginal gains’.

Surely he is a throwback to a different era? A rider who would have dug in alongside De Vlaeminck or Kelly?

Stannard chuckles. “I’m quite into the performance side,” he says, almost apologetically. “I don’t know about the whole ‘marginal gains’ thing, but I like my equipment to be right.

“I train with my power meter and I get bloody frustrated when it doesn’t work properly. But in the Classics, you can’t sit back and think, ‘I’ll follow my zones.’ It’s a one-day race and it’s played out in one day. When the big guys go, it’s all in and you’ve got to go with them.”

Despite fears (or hopes) of a wet race, conditions were hot and often dusty, but Stannard says there were sufficient portions of mud from earlier rain to make certain sections treacherous.

“It almost made it more tricky,” he says of the mixed conditions. “We heard over the radio that the early sections were going to be slippery. We wanted to be at the front, which was why we were quite active early on. You’ve got to be careful and watch your speed.”

One thing is certain, Stannard will not be posted to the hilly Ardennes Classics. Having defended Sky’s title at E3, Kwiatkowski will seek to retain his own crown at the the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday (April 17).

Rouleurs like Stannard will be in the minority, as the climbers come down from the mountains. And Sky has more than its fair share of grimpeurs.

“I’ve never done them,” Stannard says of the Ardennes Classics, laughing. “And I don’t intend to. They’re miles from my style of racing.”

Grand days out

Stannard will take a short break from racing, though he suspects his plans to “sit around the house not doing an awful lot” will be interrupted by “charging around” after his one-year-old daughter.

After that, he will head to a training camp in Tenerife, and from there to the Critérium du Dauphiné, the final warm-up for the Tour de France.

Say the name Stannard and most cycling fans will picture the Spring Classics, but he has quietly racked up seven Grand Tours in his ten-year pro career.

Stannard has raced two Tours de France in service of Chris Froome, both victorious, sharing in the victory of his long-term team-mate in Paris.

“The Classics are more for me,” Stannard says of his dual role within Team Sky.

“They are the races where I want to perform, and where I can race for myself. You go to the stage races, especially the  Grand Tours, and it’s all about riding for the team: for Froomey or G [Geraint Thomas].

“The Classics are more for me. They are the races where I want to perform, and where I can race for myself”

“It’s something I quite enjoy doing. It’s nice to have the reward of defending the jersey to Paris. It’s quite a cool feeling to do that.

“The Classics give you a great skill set to help out in the Grand Tours: watching where the wind is, how the bunch is forming; those kind of things.”

Stannard has now equalled Hammond’s success at Roubaix, but it is a mark of the expectation that now accompanies British riders that Stannard’s third place has been viewed in certain corners as an opportunity missed.

“We go to win and to be on the podium,” Stannard says of the new standards for British pros.

“A lot of teams want British riders to be part of their teams. We’re committed and clean riders, and that means a lot”

“A lot of teams have faith in British riders. A lot of teams want British riders to be part of their teams. We’re committed and clean riders, and that means a lot.”

He hopes the success of his generation will inspire the next. With 21-year-old Hugh Carthy (Caja Rural) finishing in the top ten at the Volta a Catalunya, Dan McLay (Fortuneo-Vital Concept) winning the GP Denain, and Jon Dibben finishing second at the U23 Tour of Flanders, it could be argued that the succession has already begun.

The road to Rio…and Qatar?

Stannard readily admits that he will not spearhead the British challenge in Rio, where Chris Froome will be favoured to lead the team on a hilly course for the men’s road race.

Neither has he thought ahead to the World Championships in Qatar, which this year will be held in October, but hopes to play a supporting role there too, this time to Mark Cavendish.

“I’d want to be there and I’d want to help out Cav. I was part of the last British team that won the worlds [in Copenhagen, 2011]. It was amazing to be there and ride for a guy like Mark.”

A pan-flat course will suit a speed merchant like Cavendish, especially if he hitches a ride on the Stannard Express, a diesel as well equipped to smash through desert crosswinds as cobbles.

All this, however, is too far ahead for Stannard to focus on now. With another successful spring behind him, he will recoup and build towards his “second” role as Froome’s Tour de France bodyguard.

The Classics warrior is about to undergo his annual transformation. Froome will be as appreciative as the crowds in the Roubaix velodrome.