Roubaix-inherent issues take Movistar Team out of contention at ‘Hell of the North’
14 April 2019

The 'Queen of the Classics'

Mechanical difficulties take Sütterlin, Erviti -arguably the Blues' best references for Paris-Roubaix- out of contention as Blues fight for early breaks with Roelandts, Castrillo, Bennati, Sepúlveda and a solid Jorge Arcas.

Philippe Gilbert (DQT) claimed his fourth Monument -fifth victory in total at the five biggest classics in cycling- at the 117th edition of Paris-Roubaix on Sunday. Following an attack from Peter Sagan (BOH) to create the final selection -a six-man attempt with Politt (TKA), Lampaert (DQT), Vanmarcke (EF1) and Van Aert (TJV) alongside the former World Champion- at Mons-en-Pévèle, one of the ‘five-star’ sections, a move by Gilbert later on together with Politt (2nd) left the Slovak rider behind. Team-mate Lampaert was able to take the coveted 3rd.

Arcas was part of the first big move of the race. (c) BettiniPhoto

A series of overall good performances at cobbled races throughout the 2019 spring campaign weren’t matched by the Movistar Team block led by Chente García Acosta on Sunday, despite their attempts to feature at the front from the very start. The flurry of attacks early in the race saw many Ms floating around, with Jaime Castrillo and Daniele Bennati; Roelandts, who attempted a three-man move at the 55km mark; and most importantly Jorge Arcas, who was part of a massive, 23-man break which ammassed a minute’s gap after the early pavé sections.

Roelandts in the early breakaway attempts. (c) ASO / Pauline Ballet

Ill-timed mechanical issues for Jasha Sütterlin and Imanol Erviti, 130km before the end, got them back to a second group of contenders including Alexander Kristoff (UAD), two minutes down and soon out of contention -even before Arenberg-. Erviti (+15’47”) was the only Blue able to reach the Velodrome inside the time limit; Sepúlveda also finished, thirty-one minutes after the leaders. Arcas, affected by vision problems due to dust from the rivals ahead of him throughout the race, had to DNF just about twenty kilometers before the end.