PARIS: Bahrain Victorious made history yesterday as Sonny Colbrelli clinched the Paris-Roubaix, in a three-man sprint finish at the end of a gruelling race.
At his first appearance at the ‘Queen of the Classics’, the reigning European Champion put on an impressive performance across the 55km of wet and muddy cobblestones, spread over the 257.7km legendary course from Compiègne to the velodrome of Roubaix.
Colbrelli pipped Belgianum’s Florian Vermeersch (Lotto Soudal) and Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), who were second and third respectively.
With his whole body covered in mud, Colbrelli burst into tears as he collapsed on the grass of the Roubaix Velodrome after triumphing in the first rain-hit edition of the Hell of the North since 2002.
Van der Poel, one of the pre-race favourites, came up just short after doing most of the work in a small group chasing Italian Gianni Moscon, who seemed to be heading to victory before a puncture and late crash ruined his chances.
“It was my first Roubaix, and I can’t still believe I won it. This morning I couldn’t think about a win. I started without any pressure, I just wanted to have fun on a race I always dreamt about. I felt well and better kilometre m after kilometre. So I wanted to try to take my opportunity, attacking maybe a bit early, but I learned watching past editions that it was a good moment to try,” Colbrelli said.
“I worked well with Van der Poel, and I was also lucky not to have any bad luck, any puncture or mechanical. I almost crashed a few times, but I was very focused to stay up. Then I gave everything that I had left to take the win. I’m speechless. I can’t believe I won the Roubaix. I want to dedicate it to my family, the whole team and my fans. It has been a fantastic season for me so far”, Colbrelli added.
Moscon (Ineos-Grenadiers) eventually finished fourth, 44 seconds off the pace.
Bahrain Victorious was among the most active, with two riders in the breakaway earlier in the race, Fred Wright and Marco Haller. The experienced Heinrich Haussler also showed how much this race is his favourite one, finishing his 15th Roubaix in tears for the happiness of this team’s success and finishing in the top 10.
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