París-Roubaix

American stays with top contenders until last 70km, as Iván (27th) leads Blues' men's team's performance in brutal race, under rain and on muddy cobbled sectors.

European road race champion Sonny Colbrelli (TBV) took victory at the 118th edition of Paris-Roubaix, which will long live in memory as one of the most demanding in recent times – and certainly the muddiest weekend in a generation.

As a result of the rain and the strong winds, the peloton was completely shattered from the earliest cobbled sectors, and so joining the breakaway, just like Matteo Jorgenson did for the Movistar Team, even gave you an edge on the others. The Americanwas able to join a 30-rider move, also featuring Imanol Erviti, which kept for most of the race a two-minute margin on Colbrelli or Mathieu van der Poel (AFC, 3rd), who, together with another member of the breakaway, Florian Vermeersch (LTS, 2nd), competed for victory at the Velodrome.

While Imanol, with a crash in the early sectors which forced him to abandon with a deep blow to his hand, couldn’t carry on, Jorgenson was able to get through the legendary Trouée d’Arenberg with the likes or Van der Poel and Van Aert (TJV), and stayed with them until the last 70km. Before that, Iván Cortina had been dropped: the Spaniard got himself into the right group at Haveluy, the last section prior to Arenberg, yet a crash left him with no chances.

Other than Cortina (27th) and Jorgenson, two other Blues finished, both inside the time limit: Lluís Mas and Mathias Norsgaard, the latter completing, just like Matteo, his first ‘Hell of the North’ in the pro scene.

REACTIONS:

Matteo Jorgenson: “A lot of times in today’s race, it was more about surfing than riding a bike. Your rear wheel is going to the left, to the right – it’s almost impossible to control it. It feels very, very special for me to finish here. To be honest, this morning I didn’t think I’d finish at all. I crashed yesterday in training, pretty hard – my hand and hip were already fucked up yesterday, not even a cobbled sector covered in racing. To finish within time limit and to be on the breakaway – it’s super special, pretty cool. Especially on a day like this, in the rain, which doesn’t come so often here – every 20 years (smiles). Plus, my radio stopped working in the first kilometer. I thought that behind they must be all crashing, so I just kept riding and riding. I only had gels in the first four hours, I couldn’t eat anything else. My stomach got super bad, and I had to stop for a nature break, a number two, two times. I’ve never done that in a race, and I hope to never do that again. It’s pretty moving to be here and finishing is just ridiculous.”

Iván García Cortina: “We knew it was going to be a race of attrition, one where you would need to get back from misfortune, and at the early cobbled sectors I didn’t want to take so many risks – that’s why I was riding apparently dropped or always keeping the back. However, I got myself into a good position at Haveluy, just before Arenberg – and then I crashed, as my rear wheel slipped. I lost position and couldn’t bridge back from behind once again. Other than that, even if some other years it wasn’t completely dry, this was my first really muddy Paris-Roubaix, and it’s completely different. You really need to keep as much traction as possible, but at some turns, it was like riding on ice!”

Cover picture (c): BettiniPhoto