Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Paris - Roubaix has been canceled this year...
... APRIL FOOLS! It's the first of April after all, so why not try to make the riders smile? I guess the joke backfired because they start to look angry at me now. Anyway, the weather is sunny with no sign of rain, perhaps unfortunate for the viewers at home who want to see their faces covered in mud. Time to get them underway!
29
Place de l'Hôtel de Ville de Saint-Quentin
4.0
0.8
****
A very short "cobblestone" section right after the start, at the Saint-Quentin city hall. Four riders ride away at this point:
Feng Scotson Vanthourenhout Miltiadis
The four establish a lead of 1'30 in about 10 kilometer without any follow-up attempt. Moser, Tinkoff, Andorra and Grieg spend resources in the chase nevertheless.
Eventually the chase stops and the quartet goes free. Four minutes with 220 kilometer to go, these four will get to know each other quite well while heading north towards the cobblestone sections.
At 185 kilometer to go the gap tops at seven minutes. The same four teams ( Moser, Tinkoff, Andorra and Grieg) start to pick up the chase again.
28
Troisvilles - Viesly
87.7
4.5
***
Troisville - Viesly is the first proper sector 85 kilometer into the race, the break leads by 6'20 going on it. A few farmers with their tractors cheering on the riders, at safe distance of course.
Punctures are not limited to cobblestone sectors. On the way to Saint-Python, Potts punctures, but would make it back shortly. Other than the victims of the sharp edges, a couple of riders start to lose contact with the peloton on natural pace. Christensen, Phelan, Spanopoulos and Wolf are probably better off abandoning.
The gap is down to 5 minutes when break reaches Artres - Preseau, which means 130 kilometer left to cover. All four share the work evenly, Miltiadis sometimes has to leave a bike length on a cobblestone stretch but always fights back. The same four teams are still controlling the peloton, meaning Bewley, Senechal, Summerhill and Wisniowski are all feeling good. The past few cobblestone sectors brought some additional punctures for Harrison and Trondsen amongst others but all without fatal consequences.
The answer is no. Townsend is the first rider of the peloton to leave, which still counts 130 riders. Boom the only somewhat noticeable name to be dropped despite his experience. The breakaway also stayed in one piece ( Scotson struggled though), but lost half a minute of its lead.
Scotson already looked bad on the previous sector and just hung on, but on the next section from Wallers to Helemes he has to say (or scream) his goodbyes to the other three...
16
Hornaing - Wandignies
166.5
3.6
****
...but the Australian fights back, as he rejoins just before Hornaing - Wandignies and manages to stick with them to the end of that section. The gap has gone down to three minutes due to the work of Baska, Dahl-Olsen, Manakov and Cosnefroy.
At the end of that sector there is a split in the peloton, with about 50 riders included in the peloton. The second peloton is 50 seconds behind, some names seen there are David, Kristoff, Karatzios, Anderberg, Puccio, Van Hooydonck, Declerq, Sweeck and Sanogo.
15
Warlaing - Brillon
174.3
2.6
***
Miltiadis drops off at the end of Warlaing - Brillon and unlike Scotson, it is game over for the Cypriot. The first peloton now really closing in as the front teams work hard to maintain the gap to the second peloton, two minutes between the first peloton and the breakaway with the gap to the second peloton one minute.
Puncture for Pedersen! He was in the front group but the team cars are only behind the second peloton, losing him minutes! Grieg must focus around Wisniowski, the Danish Champion has to get back all by himself. He has eighty kilometer to do that, a tough ask.
14
Tilloy - Sars-et-Rosières
177.5
2.3
****
Vanthourenhout is the first to emerge from the four-star Tilloy - Sars-et-Rosières. Scotson follows at a few seconds with Feng another few bike lengths behind. A minute later, Miltiadis is about to be caught by the peloton. The second peloton not gaining but also not losing any time, still about a minute.
13
Beuvry-la-Forêt - Orchies
183.9
1.4
***
At the end of Beuvry-la-Forêt – Orchies there are 71 kilometers remaining. Vanthourenhout sees no use in waiting and leads by 30 seconds over Scotson and 45 over Feng. The first peloton of 44 is only 1'05 behind the leader, the second group peloton 33 at an extra minute with the better cobblers doing the work themselves. Puccio and Van Hooydonck are even dropped to a third peloton, which is also where Pedersen is right now.
12
Orchies
188.9
1.7
***
Vanthourenhout survives the next sector, but Scotson and Feng have been caught. Still helpers setting pace. The favorites are awake at the front in case of another split, but the gaps between the groups stay the same for now.
Wisniowski, Summerhill, Bewley and Kamyshev head to the front when we enter the second of three five-star sectors. Not an attack, just testing the waters. Only 29 riders remaining as Manakov, Boros, Zubov, Eeckhout, Peng and Vanthourenhout were dropped. Second peloton at 1'40, looks to be done for them.
The pace difference causes seven riders to leave the sector in the lead:
The seven allow themselves to be caught as 50 kilometer is still a long way out. Vanspeybrouck returns to the front to keep the other dropped riders and the approaching second peloton out. The next sector doesn't see another attack.
8
Pont-Thibault - Ennevelin
213.7
1.4
**
At the end of Pont-Thibault à Ennevelin they return anyway as Vanspeybrouck had to carry the weight all by himself. Even a third group including David, Declerq, Anderberg and Karatzios is about to return. Cysoing to Bourghelles in ten kilometer to start with the big finale.
7
Cysoing - Bourghelles
226.1
1.4
***
Vanspeybrouck still having to do all the work as we enter at Cysoing with a first group of 39 riders:
Wisniowski, Jansen, Ringheim Bewley, Hnik Summerhill, Vanspeybrouck Spengler, Bohli, Fouquet, Grand Blythe, Neilands Senechal, Kamyshev, Sulimov Stallaert, Kosic, Sweeck, Tiller Teunissen, Potts Sibilla, Kuroeda (Saya) Gerts, Ariesen, Lampaert Theuns, Gaday Per Kasperkiewicz, Hsu Fenn, Van Baarle David Declerq Karatzios Anderberg Petit
The next group headed by Kristoff at 1'10, also containing Pedersen and Polanc.
6
Bourghelles - Wannehain
228.3
1.2
***
Cysoing - Bourghelles continues into Bourghelles - Wannehain, Bewley placing his first acceleration on the pavement between the two sectors. Summerhill, Kamyshev and Wisniowski respond by going to the front of the group, but the New Zealander has a gap.
Bewley leads off the sector by 20 seconds. The group is breaking up in pieces again but Wisniowski, Spengler, Teunissen, Kamyshev and Stallaert as first ones to leave.
Even though the chasers are in a majority, at the end of the sector Bewley still leads by roughly 20 seconds. Furthermore, the five chasers lost ground, enough for group Summerhill to return. 21 kilometer to the finish line but the riders first have to conquer the last five-star sector: Carrefour de l'Arbre.
4
Le Carrefour de l'Arbre
235.8
2.0
*****
Summerhill sets the pace himself and almost catches Bewley, his lead down to seconds. Stallaert on the American's wheel followed by Teunissen, Wisniowski and Spengler.
3
Gruson
238.5
1.1
**
Bewley indeed caught at the end of the sector, immediately heading onto Gruson with a Stallaert attack. Aside from these two, the front has been reduced to:
Teunissen Summerhill Wisniowski Spengler Blythe Senechal Gerts Kamyshev Per
Stallaert has a lead of 15 seconds coming out of the sector, but Blythe also attacks from the chasers. Fenn, Sibilla, Theuns and Kasperkiewicz are 45 seconds behind the chasing group, then Kuroeda, Neilands, Ringheim and Karatzios at another 30, and the remnants of the group more than 1'30 behind.
Blythe couldn't get clear and only marginally reduced the gap, but Bewley attacks again and immediately joins and passes Stallaert. Per accelerates from the back of the group as well. 14 kilometer to go, on our way to the penultimate cobblestone sector Hem.
Bewley leads by 10 seconds over Stallaert halfway towards Hem. Per, Kamyshev, Spengler and Wisniowski get a small gap over the rest of the group at another 10 seconds.
The trio of Bewley, Stallaert and Kamyshev join forces to stay ahead, the GPS gap saying eight seconds. Blythe attacks his way to the leaders as well, leaving Summerhill to take the lead in the chase.
Spengler hits a wall, figuratively of course, but he seems empty and drops! The front four have a lead of nine seconds over the chasing six heading onto the final "cobblestone" sector of the day: Espace Charles Crupelandt.
Lukasz Wisniowski Danny Summerhill Sam Bewley Florian Senechal Arman Kamyshev Adam Blythe Floris Gerts David Per Joeri Stallaert Mike Teunissen
Judging by sprinting speed, it should be Bewley versus Stallaert with Blythe as outsider, but after 254 kilometer it is a question of who has anything left in the legs at all. Tinkoff is the only team with two riders but with neither being very fast, there is not much to help with.
The burden is on Bewley to lead into final lap, the best sprinter has to do it from the front. Senechal on his wheel, then Wisniowski, then Summerhill. Stallaert and Blythe all the way at the back.
Bewley slows down so much that Wisniowski has no choice but to pass him. Blythe takes this opportunity to open the sprint, catching the others by surprise.
Blythe opens up a gap in the turn with lapped traffic doing its best not to interfere. They go high while the Evonik rider goes low. Kamyshev, Stallaert and Teunissen leading the group sprint, but Bewley hasn't even started to sprint.
Bewley finally launches out of the final turn with a big acceleration, Stallaert tries to follow. Blythe has passed the group of backmarkers, his teammate Neilands giving him a cheeky slipstream.
Blythe raises arms as it cannot go wrong anymore. Bewley is slightly blocked by Kuroeda but he wouldn't have passed the Brit anyway, though it might bring Stallaert back in contention.
And this is the official moment of crossing the line and completing all 254400 meters. Adam Blythe wins Paris - Roubaix 2020! No one else on the finish photo.
Sam Bewley finishes second, but he lost it himself by sprinting too late. No seventh title for him, and his first monumentless season since 2012!
Anderberg might trick his grandchildren into believing he finished third, but he still has a lap to go. It's Stallaert currently third on the left but under pressure from Per and Wisniowski between the backmarkers on the right.
Joeri Stallaert completes the podium, his second in his career after a second place in 2018. He chose to focus on Bewley instead of following Blythe, a mistake which ruled out the win, though a podium is certainly deserved.
David Per takes fourth, a very good result for the young Slovene who will be a name to watch out for in future editions.
Lukasz Wisniowski fifth, the rainbow jersey curse is still alive. He doesn't start a dominant streak like Bewley, he has to bounce back next season.
Florian Senechal finishes sixth as first of the Tinkoffs, who couldn't benefit from their numerical advantage.
Danny Summerhill crosses the line in seventh, unable to complete the Ronde-Roubaix combo. For a PCT team, Andorra surely showed themselves positively over the past week, though this result might be a tad disappointing.
Floris Gerts in eighth, he keeps improving his position by the year after an eleventh place in 2018 and a tenth in 2019.
Mike Teunissen as ninth, behind the other Dutchman. Once this headed to a sprint he stood no chance.
Arman Kamyshev literally sprinted backwards towards the end, but completes the top ten nevertheless.
Spengler might not have been a factor in the sprint anyway but losing contact near the end was a bit embarrassing. Eleventh place for the Swiss at 1'35.
Theuns best-of-the-rest in twelfth, three minutes down on the winner. The decisive split was made on Carrefour de l'Arbre and he missed it.
Sibilla finishes thirteen, just ahead of a group of riders needing another lap.
Ringheim wins the sprint for fourteenth. With him in the group are, in finishing order, Vanspeybrouck, Tiller, Karatzios, Neilands, Kasperkiewicz, Fenn, Lampaert, Kuroeda, Anderberg, David and Gaday.
A Grieg rider also leads home the next group. Jansen finishes in 26th, together with Sweeck, Kosic, Hnik, Petit, Bohli, Grand, Sulimov, Van Baarle, Potts and Declerq.
Pedersen finishes 37th at nearly six minutes, but it was game over for him after his puncture and his comeback could only bring him to here. Kristoff only finishes in 48th for an anonymous wildcard race for Adastra. Puccio and Van Hooydonck also disappoint with a 57th and 64th place respectively.
183 riders make it to the finish line, Rodrigues finishing one hour and 16 minutes later. Nine riders had to be taken out of the race: Arifin, Arslanov, Bouet, Christensen, Ludvigsson, Phelan, Spanopoulos, Wolf and Zakarin.
