Andrea Tafi won Paris-Roubaix in 1999, and 20 years on, the Italian is working on a plan to make a comeback as a professional so he can ride the Hell of the North one more time. Tafi is now 52 and races intensely in Masters events in Tuscany, and is looking for a special and unique way to turn back the clock and celebrate the 20th anniversary of his Paris-Roubaix victory. He retired in 2005, with that year`s Paris-Roubaix the final race of his career that included 30 victories, including the Tour of Flanders, Il Lombardia and Paris-Roubaix. `I know it`s a crazy idea but I want to race again with just one goal: ride Paris-Roubaix, 20 years after I won it. It could be an impossible dream to make true but I want to try...` Tafi told La Gazzetta dello Sport of his plans.ADVERTISEMENT `I`m just as motivated as I was 20 years ago. I certainly don`t want to become some kind of circus trick. I still ride about 18,000km a year and my weight is down to 79kg. My Italian national championīs jersey from 1998 still fits me... `I rode Paris-Roubaix thirteen times during my career. I won once, was second and third. I always managed to finish. I think I`ve got a PhD in what is a special race. I know cycling has changed a lot in 20 years and I know that riding Paris-Roubaix wouldn`t be a walk in the park but I like a challenge. It`d be unique.` Tafi runs a cycling clothing business and `Il Borghetto`, a series of six short-let apartments in central Tuscany, where each one is named after one of his major Classics victories. That leaves him time to train and take his 20th anniversary celebrations very seriously. He has ridden a number of Masters races and Gran Fondo, even taking part in a UCI-sanctioned road race in Hungary in July.
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