Few races on the WorldTour calendar capture the imagination quite like Paris-Roubaix. The culmination of several weeks of cobbled racing in Belgium and France, the ‘Hell of the North’ is an early-season target for many riders, a technical challenge for bike and equipment manufacturers and a captivating spectacle for fans of the sport.
Where the Tour of Flanders of a week earlier features short, cobbled climbs, Paris-Roubaix’s cobblestone sectors are flat but far, far rougher. On Sunday, the riders faced 27 such sectors as they made their way from Compiègne, roughly 80km north of Paris, to Roubaix, near the Belgian border.
Winning the sprint from a group of six riders on the famous Roubaix velodrome, John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) became just the second German to win the race (Josef Fischer won the first edition way back in 1896) and the first rider to win Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix in the same year, since Sean Kelly achieved the same feat in 1986.
What follows is a gallery of images from Sunday’s race, courtesy of Kristof Ramon and the Cor Vos photo agency.
Race results
| 1. |  |
DEGENKOLB John
Team Giant - Alpecin
|
05:49:51 |
| 2. |  |
TYBAR Zdeněk
Etixx - Quick Step
|
- |
| 3. |  |
VAN AVERMAET Greg
BMC Racing Team
|
- |
- Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto Soudal) peeps out of the team bus at the start in Compiègne.
- Tim De Troyer (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) preps himself ahead of the race. Many riders tape their wrists and fingers to protect them for the cobbled sectors. Most riders also have an extra layer of bartape on their handlebars to “soften” the impact of the cobbles.
- There was lots of media attention for Bradley Wiggins at the start in what was his last race for Sky.
- Zdenek Stybar (Etixx-Quick-Step) was one of the pre-race favourites.
- The peloton leaves the start in Compiègne.
- The lead group tackles sector 26, Viesly to Quiévy. The breakaway of nine riders formed roughly 30km into the race and built a lead that touched 10 minutes at one stage.
- Zdenek Stybar rides sector 26.
- Jempy Drucker (BMC) seeks an easier line next to Koen de Kort (Giant-Alpecin) on sector 23: Vertain to Saint-Martin-sur-Écaillon.
- Geraint Thomas had a forgettable day on Sunday. He punctured twice and later crashed after hitting a kerb.
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- Aleksejs Saramotins was the first rider to emerge from the famous Trouée d’Arenberg after opening up a gap in the breakaway.
- Australian national champion Heinrich Haussler was the first rider in the peloton to emerge from the Forest of Arenberg.
- John Degenkolb was well placed throughout the day.
- Yauheni Hutarovich (Bretagne - Seche Environnement) comes running out of the Forest of Arenberg with a completely smashed front wheel.
- Plenty of bidons fly out of their cages when the riders race over the cobblestones, but no bidon did so as elegantly as this one.
- A bunch of riders cross train lines despite the boomgates being down.
- The high-speed TGV came through just a few seconds later. UCI rules expressly forbid riders ignoring safety barriers at train crossings but on this occasion the race organisers decided not to penalise the riders involved.
- Promising youngster Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) powers through sector 14 alongside John Gadret (Movistar).
- The peloton attacks sector 12: Orchies.
- Peter Sagan had a day he’d probably rather forget. After battling stomach issues early in the day he had a mechanical in the closing stages. He did put in two attacks, however, including one on sector 11: Auchy-lez-Orchies to Bersée.
- It wouldn’t be Paris-Roubaix without a whole stack of crashes. Matti Breschel (Tinkoff-Saxo) was among the riders to hit the deck.
- Cycling legend Erik Zabel was out on course offering support to Movistar riders. He works with the team’s sponsor, Canyon.
- Bradley Wiggins made no secret of the fact he wanted to close out his time with Team Sky with a win at Paris-Roubaix. He was caught behind a split on sector 14, which had been forced by Etixx-Quick-Step, but he later bridged the gap. He would go on to put in an attack of his own and join Stijn Vandenbergh (Etixx-Quick-Step) who had attacked a short time earlier. Unfortunately for Wiggins, the move came to nothing.
- Last year’s winner Niki Terpstra (Etixx-Quick-Step) is followed by eventual winner John Degenkolb at the end of sector 4, Carrefour de l’Arbre.
- A broken shifter forced Peter Sagan to change bikes in the closing kilometres of the race. Despite having a quick change he was caught out of position and wouldn’t be able to fight his way back to the front. He ended up finishing 23rd.
- Seven riders reached the famous Roubaix velodrome together. After breaking clear earlier Yves Lampaert had enough in his legs to lead out Zdenek Stybar …
- … but it was no surprise when John Degenkolb took to the front and sprinted to a comfortable victory.
- Stybar pipped Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) on the line for second.
- Giant-Alpecin team manager Iwan Spekenbrink embraces Roy Curvers after the latter helped John Degenkolb take his second Monument victory of the year.
- Bradley Wiggins leads a small group into the velodrome to battle it out for 10th place. Tour of Flanders winner Alexander Kristoff (Katusha; on Wiggins’ wheel) would take out that minor sprint while Wiggins finished 18th.
- Wiggins thanks Ian Stannard for his work throughout the day. Luke Rowe, sitting beside Wiggins here, finished eighth.
- And so Bradley Wiggins’ time with Sky comes to an end. He will now turn his attention to Team Wiggins, his own Continental team, in the lead-up to the 2016 Olympics.
- Lars Boom finished fourth on the day.
- In his 14th time at Paris-Roubaix, Mat Hayman was the highest-placed Australian, finishing 76th, 7:50 off the pace. Hayman’s Orica-GreenEdge team posted its best ever Paris-Roubaix result, however, with Belgian Jens Keukeleire finishing sixth in the lead group.
- “I have to search now for a place to put a cobblestone in my apartment,” Degenkolb said after the race. “It is not going to be easy. It is a big one, a heavy one, you need to find a stable bench for it, I think.”
- Degenkolb got his team up on the podium to celebrate the win.
- The bikes, too, were honoured after getting their riders through the race’s 27 cobbled sectors.
- With the race over, the fun began for the mechanics.
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- After a fantastic Spring Classics campaign John Degenkolb will now have a break from racing before building up for the Tour de France.
