Bradley Wiggins (Sky) was careful to downplay his chances in Sunday’s very serious business of Paris-Roubaix before the start of today’s Scheldeprijs race.

Before getting his wheels rolling, Wiggins joked with a race announcer at the sign-in, saying his sole objective was to avoid crashing.

Things will be considerably more serious on Sunday’s raid over the pavés. Wiggins told journalists that he has what he termed “realistic ambitions” for Sunday’s prestigious race.

“I want to do well in Roubaix. It’s no secret, you don’t start that race unless you want to do well,” Wiggins told reporters before the start as reported by Velonews.com. “I wouldn’t have risked it at Flanders if I didn’t want to do well in Roubaix. Whether it happens or not is another thing.”

Already committed to Roubaix, Wiggins was a late-hour addition to Sky’s classics roster ahead of the Tour of Flanders, where he avoided crashes and rode inconspicuously to finish 32nd.

The 2012 conqueror of the Tour de France expressed interest in adding Roubaix to his racing program late in 2013, and he has subsequently been gaining weight to boost his resistance across the punishing pavés.

Sky will look to put a strong finishing touch on its solid classics campaign, which has included victory at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad for Stannard and third with Edvald Boasson Hagen, and third at E3 Harelbeke with Geraint Thomas.

Looking beyond Sunday’s bone-crunching challenge, Wiggins confirmed he was not considering a start at the Giro d’Italia as a result of Richie Porte’s decision to skip the Italian Grand Tour after falling ill.

Instead, Wiggins’ race schedule includes the Giro del Trentino and the Amgen Tour of California before the Tour de France.