One of the most legendary races of the cycling calendar, only just behind the level of spectacle one could find in races like the Down Under Classic and Riga – Jurmala, is about to start. Is Blythe able to repeat last season’s wonderful victory, or will we see Summerhill winning another monument?



We expected a large break, but in the end only ten riders join the break. Cobbling teams Amaysim, Grieg, Tinkoff and Eurosport seem to dislike it though, as the gap of the ten leaders stays around 30/40 seconds for a while. The ten riders up front are Bosnian champion Siric (Cedevita), Geniets (Farfetch), Lampawog (Vesuvio), Pons (MOL), Russo (Zwift), Budenieks (Evonik), Goldstein (Huski), Cink (Moser), Baterdene (Puma) and Stannard (Xero).



It’s cobble time! 168 km to go as the breakaway of ten starts their cobbled adventure with an advantage of three minutes over the peloton. Youngster Siric is the best cobbler up front, the Cedevita rider sets the pace.



No prisoners in hell! Siric with a puncture. Cedevita manager redordead will be getting a flashback to Mestric dropping out of last season’ Paris-Roubaix U23 finale for the same reason! The Bosnian bruiser makes his way back to the leading group rather quickly though. At the back of the peloton, Zimmermann and Pogacar are the first to be dropped.



Siric really providing the fans with some fun in the early stages of the race. Only Baterdene, Lampawog and Russo currently able to follow him on the cobbles. Pons also suffered a puncture in the leading group. In the peloton, Eeckhout now has a flat tyre.



The leading group starts growing in numbers again, as some very interesting names attack and join the head of the race. Salzmann, Karatzios, Menten, Gaday and Benoot now also at the front with 135 km to the finish line.



Insausti and Schreurs have also been sent forward by their leaders and join the head of the race with 128 km to go. The peloton now at 2’10� with the teams working there Aegon, Tinkoff, Grieg, King Power and Mapei.



103 km left as the leaders start secteur pave 15, better known as the Forest of Arenberg! The legendary cobbles reminding everyone how beautiful this race is! In the peloton, Moulingui, Hnik and Boros attacked.



95 km left! The advantage of the twelve leaders (Russo, Siric, Karatzios, Menten, Lampawog, Benoot, Gaday, Baterdene, Salzmann, Scheurs, Insausti and Pons) has shrunk to 50�. Moulingui between them and the peloton of 80, led mostly by Tinkoff and Grieg.



The peloton gets split in two thanks to some nice work by Zubov, and we have a big victim! Pedersen not positioned well, his dream of winning Paris – Roubaix will probably be postponed for at least another season! Polanc also in this group!



The peloton of 45 at twenty seconds of the race lead with 80 km to the finish line! Salzmann wants some more screen time and attacks!



Siric is the last rider of the morning breakaway to get caught, as none of the other decent cobbles riders from the leading group seem able to reel the Farfetch rider back in. Big surprise coming from the peloton though, as Wisniowski attacks and quickly catches everyone except for Salzmann! Still 77 km to go!



He leaves everyone behind and quickly joins the Farfetch leader at the head of the race. The two leaders have a minute lead over a peloton of 38 riders on sector 13, with 72 km to go! In the peloton it’s favourite Senechal doing the work!



Might not use the word peloton anymore, as this is clearly becoming more a ‘group of favourites’! Only twenty riders able to follow the Tinkof rider’s pace, as the gap towards Wisniowski is now at 45� with 69 km left!



Wisniowski really not caring at all, still going all-in! He leaves his companion from Farfetch behind on sector 11, with 60 km left! 18 chasers at 45�!



And boom, Senechal is out! This leaves us with sixteen chasers: Summerhill (Amaysim), Gerts (Huski), Bewley (Mapei), Per (Isostar), Theuns (MOL), Kamyshev (Tinkoff), Blythe (Eurosport), Teunissen (Gazelle), Debesay (Generali), Ferreira and Kasperkiewicz (King Power), Van Hooydonck and Vermeersch (Aegon), Centrone (Vesuvio), Tiller (Farfetch) and Neilands (Evonik)!



King Power one of the two teams that still has a duo in the chase, and they take up responsibilities! Ferreira brings down the gap of Wisniowski to only fifteen seconds, as we are about to hit the next legendary sector, Mons en Pévèle!



A win seems very unlikely, but Wisniowski has survived Mons-en-Pévèle as well! He gained ten seconds on the sixteen chasers again, as Milano San Remo victor Summerhill is setting the pace over here! 52 km and nine cobbled sectors to go!



Wisniowski, what are you doing?! His lead growing to 50� again! Nobody willing or able to help Summerhill in the chase, the American decides to attack to try and join the Grieg rider at the front! 46 km left!



The American trailing the race lead by 20 seconds at the end of sector 8, with 41.5 km left! In the group of favourites, Per decides to attack as well now!



The two titans together with 39.5 km to go! Per at 33�, the other fourteen favourites an additional 24� behind!



Wisniowski really taking the piss of his rival now, as he attacks again! Is he able to stay ahead of the American this time?!



No! They come together again with 34 km to go. Per at 30�, the group of fourteen favourites at 1’10� of the race lead!



Sector 7 sees the Isostar rider come five seconds closer again! Domestiques Vermeersch and Ferreira trying to bring the other favourites closer, but they now trail by 1’15� with 29 km to the finish line!



A big effort from Per on sector six, as he joins the two leaders with 27 km left! The fourteen other favourites at 1’25�!



Sector five, Camphin-en-Pévèle, is far from easy. Last year’s winner Blythe think it’s now or never to try and close the gap, and attacks! He quickly brings it down to fifty seconds, can he close it by himself?!



The three leaders inside the final twenty km now, as they are on the legendary Carrefour de l’Arbre! Blythe at 30�, the other favourites at an additional 45�! Pedersen has meanwhile made his way back to the sixteenth place!



The three leaders stay together on sector three as well! 17 km to the finish line and Blythe at 25�! Other favourites at an additional 50�, as the two domestiques got dropped and there are no more duos there!



He seemed to be staggering a bit, but one more acceleration by Blythe makes it four at the front with exactly 15 km to go! The favourites behind at exactly one minute now, as radio tour announces several attacks there as well!



Nobody able to make a difference on the penultimate cobbled sector neither! 10 km to the finish line and the gap towards the chasers, led by Kamyshev, has shrunk to only thirty seconds! Other people at thirty seconds are Van Hooydonck, Kasperkiewicz, Bewley, Teunissen, Gerts and Theuns! Anything is still possible!



What a finale! They keep taking turns at the front, but a Kasperkiewicz attack seems to ensure everyone getting back together with 6 km left! Impressive performance by Neilands as well here, who managed to come back by himself to make it twelve leaders!



Blythe is the first rider to head onto the Velodrome! Can he repeat last year’s fairytale?!



The bell is ringing, the riders enter the final lap of this year’s Paris – Roubaix! Kamyshev in the lead ahead of Van Hooydonck!



Still the Tinkoff rider leading the pack with 2 km to go, as Kasperkiewicz attacks!



The King Power rider has a small gap with 1.5 km to go! Is this the right move?!



Kamyshev trying to close it, but the gap is still there with 1 km to the finish line! Bewley seems to be in the perfect position to win this race for the 7th time in his career!



And off he goes! The kiwi overtakes Kasperkiewicz in no time! 800 meters to go, as Theuns might be his biggest rival!



Final 400 metres! Theuns, Per and Wisniowski still believing in the win as well!



But Bewley still has a nice lead with 200 meters to go!



And he knows it’s in the bag! A legendary racer winning a legendary race for the seventh time in his career! Ladies and gentleman, the name is Sam Bewley!



Theuns with a very nice second place, whereas Per will also make his manager a happy man with a strong third place. Former world champion Wisniowski in fourth after an incredible attack with almost 80 km to go.



Gerts in fifth ahead of Summerhill (6th), and Van Hooydonck (7th), with last year’s winner Blythe finishing eighth ahead of Dutch champion Teunissen and former teammate Neilands in tenth, also after an impressive performance. Kamyshev is the first Tinkoff rider in 11th, with the rest of the top-15 going to Kasperkiewicz (12th), Debesay (13th), Centrone (14th), and Tiller (15th).




Result

1	Sam Bewley	Mapei	5h57'59
2	Edward Theuns	MOL	s.t.
3	David Per	Isostar - Specialized	s.t.
4	Lukasz Wisniowski	Grieg-Maersk	s.t.
5	Floris Gerts	Huski Chocolate	s.t.
6	Danny Summerhill	Amaysim Cervélo	s.t.
7	Nathan Van Hooydonck	Aegon - Peroni	s.t.
8	Adam Blythe	Eurosport x GCN	s.t.
9	Mike Teunissen	Gazelle	s.t.
10	Krists Neilands	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
11	Arman Kamyshev	Team Tinkoff	s.t.
12	Przemyslaw Kasperkiewicz	King Power	s.t.
13	Mekseb Debesay	Generali	s.t.
14	Ivan Centrone	EA Vesuvio	+ 46
15	Rasmus Tiller	Farfetch Pro Cycling	+ 1'15
16	Mads Pedersen	Grieg-Maersk	+ 3'17
17	Gianni Vermeersch	Aegon - Peroni	s.t.
18	Ricardo Ferreira	King Power	s.t.
19	Florian Senechal	Team Tinkoff	+ 4'00
20	Julius van den Berg	Mapei	+ 4'32
21	Varsham Darbinyan	King Power	s.t.
22	Luke Rowe	Xero Racing	+ 5'15
23	Michail Kortsidakis	Festina - OAKA	s.t.
24	Timo Roosen	Huski Chocolate	s.t.
25	Milan Menten	Generali	s.t.
26	Nejc Kosic	Grieg-Maersk	s.t.
27	Christophe Laporte	Grieg-Maersk	s.t.
28	Tiesj Benoot	Huski Chocolate	s.t.
29	Dylan Van Baarle	Generali	s.t.
30	Jodok Salzmann	Farfetch Pro Cycling	s.t.
31	Sameera Chatarunga	Amaysim Cervélo	s.t.
32	Georgios Karatzios	Festina - OAKA	s.t.
33	Jo Kogstad Ringheim	Grieg-Maersk	s.t.
34	Lucas Manuel Gaday	Generali	s.t.
35	Shaun Nick Bester	Isostar - Specialized	+ 6'35
36	Mathieu van der Poel	Mapei	+ 7'00
37	Michael Vanthourenhout	King Power	s.t.
38	Patrick Naud	Amaysim Cervélo	s.t.
39	Jon Ander Insausti	Eurosport x GCN	s.t.
40	Michael Boros	Moser - Sygic	s.t.
41	Jasper De Buyst	Generali	s.t.
42	Alexander Sulimov	Team Tinkoff	s.t.
43	Julien Vermote	Generali	s.t.
44	Matvey Zubov	Team Tinkoff	s.t.
45	Steven Kalf	MOL	s.t.
46	Kevin Eeckhout	Aegon - Peroni	s.t.
47	Clenne Morvan Moulingui	Eurosport x GCN	+ 8'05
48	Remi Cavagna	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
49	Taco van der Hoorn	Aegon - Peroni	s.t.
50	Steven Kruijswijk	Gazelle	s.t.
51	Jan Polanc	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
52	Eric Young	Zwift Pro Cycling	s.t.
53	Cyrus Monk	Amaysim Cervélo	s.t.
54	Erik Nordsaeter Resell	Grieg-Maersk	s.t.
55	Callum Scotson	Amaysim Cervélo	s.t.
56	Hamish Schreurs	Amaysim Cervélo	s.t.
57	Stefan Kung	Generali	+ 9'04
58	Ahmad Arissol	ISA - Hexacta	+ 9'42
59	Nur Amirul Marzuki	King Power	+ 9'52
60	Ludovic Robeet	Aegon - Peroni	s.t.
61	Ivan Siric	Cedevita	s.t.
62	Lukas Meiler	Team Puma - SAP	+ 10'28
63	Sam Harrison	ISA - Hexacta	s.t.
64	Abou Sanogo	ISA - Hexacta	s.t.
65	Nihal Silva	Mapei	+ 11'14
66	Marc Potts	Gazelle	s.t.
67	Kamil Malecki	Gazelle	s.t.
68	Hugo Hofstetter	Evonik - ELKO	+ 11'56
69	Jiri Polnicky	Moser - Sygic	s.t.
70	Georgios Boutopoulos	Farfetch Pro Cycling	s.t.
71	Aviv Yechezkel	Zwift Pro Cycling	s.t.
72	Pit Schlechter	Mapei	+ 12'24
73	Jamalidin Novardianto	Xero Racing	s.t.
74	Jonas Rickaert	Isostar - Specialized	s.t.
75	Karel Hnik	Moser - Sygic	s.t.
76	Johann van Zyl	Xero Racing	s.t.
77	Jay Lampawog	EA Vesuvio	+ 14'12
78	Gunnar Dahl-Olsen	Grieg-Maersk	+ 14'27
79	Jordi Meeus	Huski Chocolate	s.t.
80	Csaba Palyi	Mapei	+ 15'26
81	Clement Russo	Zwift Pro Cycling	s.t.
82	Harry Sweeny	Isostar - Specialized	s.t.
83	Dan McLay	Eurosport x GCN	+ 15'41
84	Jonas Rutsch	Eurosport x GCN	s.t.
85	Munkhtulga Erdenesuren	Huski Chocolate	s.t.
86	Owain Doull	Eurosport x GCN	s.t.
87	Narankhuu Baterdene	Team Puma - SAP	+ 16'34
88	Armands Becis	Evonik - ELKO	+ 17'09
89	Krisztian Lovassy	MOL	s.t.
90	Kristofer Gunnlaugsson	EA Vesuvio	s.t.
91	Chun Kai Feng	ISA - Hexacta	s.t.
92	Cees Bol	Farfetch Pro Cycling	+ 17'40
93	Grzegorz Stepniak	Moser - Sygic	s.t.
94	Stepan Kurianov	Zwift Pro Cycling	+ 18'57
95	El Mehdi Chokri	ISA - Hexacta	s.t.
96	Gaetan Pons	MOL	s.t.
97	Salah Eddine Mraouni	ISA - Hexacta	+ 19'48
98	Adam Toupalik	Moser - Sygic	+ 19'58
99	Aliaksandr Riabushenko	Isostar - Specialized	+ 20'09
100	Josh Atkins	Moser - Sygic	s.t.
101	Jannik Steimle	Team Puma - SAP	+ 20'38
102	Daniel Eaton	Zwift Pro Cycling	+ 21'29
103	Dominik Neuman	Mapei	s.t.
104	Ben Swift	Zwift Pro Cycling	s.t.
105	Domenic Weinstein	Team Puma - SAP	s.t.
106	Conor Dunne	Eurosport x GCN	s.t.
107	Guy Sagiv	ISA - Hexacta	+ 24'01
108	Omer Goldstein	Huski Chocolate	s.t.
109	Andreas Miltiadis	Festina - OAKA	s.t.
110	Zico Waeytens	MOL	s.t.
111	Kristaps Budenieks	Evonik - ELKO	+ 25'34
112	Rune Herregodts	King Power	+ 26'15
113	Soren Kragh Andersen	Grieg-Maersk	s.t.
114	Yannick Stoltz	Evonik - ELKO	+ 27'07
115	Kiril Yatsevich	Team Tinkoff	s.t.
116	Gino Mäder	Generali	s.t.
117	Moreno Hofland	Gazelle	+ 28'05
118	Ondrej Cink	Moser - Sygic	s.t.
119	Ioannidis Kiriakidis	Festina - OAKA	+ 29'01
120	Bachirou Nikiema	Xero Racing	+ 29'53
121	Jonel Carcueva	Gazelle	s.t.
122	Harm Vanhoucke	Aegon - Peroni	s.t.
123	Enzo Wouters	Farfetch Pro Cycling	+ 31'33
124	Stylianos Farantakis	Festina - OAKA	+ 31'46
125	Luke Mudgway	Xero Racing	+ 32'09
126	Edoardo Affini	Farfetch Pro Cycling	s.t.
127	Robert Stannard	Xero Racing	s.t.
128	Stef Krul	Isostar - Specialized	+ 32'48
129	Alexandros Agrotis	Festina - OAKA	s.t.
130	Pawel Bernas	Isostar - Specialized	s.t.
131	Alex Hoehn	Huski Chocolate	s.t.
132	Barnabas Peak	Isostar - Specialized	s.t.
133	Zeke Mostov	King Power	+ 33'27
134	Kevin Geniets	Farfetch Pro Cycling	+ 33'48
135	Roman Senyenov	Gazelle	s.t.
136	Michael Storer	Amaysim Cervélo	+ 34'08
137	Alex Frame	ISA - Hexacta	+ 34'38
138	Mark Cavendish	Zwift Pro Cycling	+ 37'30
139	Arvid de Kleijn	Aegon - Peroni	+ 38'26
140	Felix English	MOL	+ 39'48
141	Andres Camilo Ardila	Cedevita	+ 40'33
142	Byron Munton	EA Vesuvio	s.t.
143	Inigo Elosegui	Farfetch Pro Cycling	s.t.
144	Aleksey Rybalkin	Team Tinkoff	s.t.
145	Harold Tejada	Zwift Pro Cycling	+ 41'34
146	Evgeny Shalunov	Team Tinkoff	+ 41'50
147	Ben Zwiehoff	Team Puma - SAP	+ 42'32
148	Jan Ghyselinck	Amaysim Cervélo	s.t.
149	Syver Waersted	Evonik - ELKO	s.t.
150	Ziga Rucigaj	EA Vesuvio	+ 43'16
151	Sjoerd Bax	EA Vesuvio	+ 43'38
152	Juan Osorio	Moser - Sygic	+ 45'15
153	Lennard Hofstede	Huski Chocolate	+ 46'44
154	James Fouche	Xero Racing	+ 50'36
155	Santiago Buitrago	Cedevita	+ 51'08
156	Alexander Evans	Cedevita	+ 52'00
157	Dusan Rajovic	Cedevita	+ 52'14
158	Teten Rohendi	Mapei	+ 52'54
159	Felix Gall	EA Vesuvio	+ 54'49
160	Dmitry Strakhov	Team Tinkoff	+ 56'36
161	Johannes Schinnagel	Team Puma - SAP	+ 56'49
162	Janos Pelikan	EA Vesuvio	+ 57'46
163	Gabriel Chavanne	Evonik - ELKO	+ 57'58
164	Jefferson Cepeda Hernandez	Cedevita	+ 1h00'25
165	Juan Pedro Lopez	Cedevita	+ 1h03'21
166	Morten Hulgaard	Eurosport x GCN	+ 1h06'36
167	Aimiliano Vila	Festina - OAKA	+ 1h07'24
168	Tadej Pogacar	Cedevita	+ 1h09'37
169	Salim Kipkemboi	Xero Racing	+ 1h11'39
170	Ildar Arslanov	Gazelle	+ 1h14'26
171	Viktor Filutas	MOL	+ 1h19'29