Bonjour and let’s go! 17 secteurs pavés, that’s definitely something.
Van den Berg with the first attack of the day, he’s followed by Hayter, McNulty, Cabrera and Higuita.
Cote, Fung and some others try to join them, but the peloton doesn’t allow them to. The teams setting the pace are Lierse, Swisslion, almighty Zalgiris, World Cycling Centre and Bralirwa. Amongst those chasing we find some prominent names from the Avenir, including Pogacar and Carr.
Wow, the pace is really high! An average pace of 45 km/h in the first 50 km, as the five leaders reach sector 17 with a 2’10” lead over the peloton! Three stars for Troisvilles, that is 2.1 km long.
Sector 16 now as the peloton is trailing the race lead by almost two minutes, and ten riders are already dropped, probably never to come back again. Lyu with the first flat tyre of the day!
Van den Berg has some trouble keeping up with the other leaders at the end of sector 15 (Quiévy a Saint-Python, 3 km, four stars). 125 km to go as now the riders will go a while without cobbles again.
Unnecessary, but always fun to see, as Gamper shows the others who’s boss by setting the pace on sector 15 and dropping almost the entire peloton, making up a minute in no time. Stokbro and Meeus the closest riders to him.
Some action in the peloton! Suter attacks, Van Moer reacts! Can they make up 1’45” on the leaders?
Ohlala, the two make it to the front, and they’re not alone! Nine others attack together, making it a group of sixteen leaders that are 2’ ahead of the peloton with 88 km to go! The new names up front are Eenkhoorn, Lauk, Assaholin, Siddikov, Van Niekerk, Foss, Kooistra, Burger and Barbier.
Sector 14 is hard! Four stars for Erre a Wandignies, 3.6 km long! Several cobbled sectors now close after each other!
The first attackers of the day are getting dropped at the head of the race, only Cabrera is able to hold on!
Gamper leads the peloton over secteur pave 14, only 22 others able to follow him this time! Philipsen and Siric the best cobblers left behind so far.
Van Niekerk setting the pace on sector 13, as Barbier and Eenkhoorn get dropped with 75 km to the finish line! The peloton, led by Lierse and Bralirwa, following at 2’45”.
And the leading group now gets reduced to nine, as Burger can’t follow the other leaders anymore on sector 12, once again a murdering sector of four stars!
At the end of sector 12, a group of 43 has a small gap over the rest of the riders. The best cobblers not in in the first peloton are Stannard, Menicucci and Honore, as the Tryg rider suffered a puncture recently.
Sector 11 is short and ‘only’ three stars, but it seems to be too much for four of the nine leaders! Lauk , Van Niekerk , Suter and Kooistra have a hard time holding on! 66 km remaining!
The big favourites all coming forth on that sector 11, but mostly showing off rather than chasing. The peloton is still 2’30” behind the race lead, as Stannard, Menicucci and Honore are at the back of the peloton again.
Sector 10 also short and given three stars, slightly downhill. No ruptures in the first group, as there remain nine leaders. Rutsch uppens the pace in the peloton, which causes a split!
The peloton of 26 now 2’15” behind the race lead with 58 km to go because of the German! Mano tries bringing back the second group, which once again includes Stannard, Menicucci and Honore.
Sector nine give us another 2.5 km of cobbles of three stars, as four leaders are simply better than the others! The four who have a small gap over the other leaders are Assaholin, Foss, Siddikov and Van Moer!
Just after sector 9, the peloton is back to having 41 riders. Dewulf gets the task to start chasing as well. 53 km to go, the four leaders are 2’50” ahead of the peloton.
Sector 8 gives us the brutal cobbles of Mons-en-Pévèle! Assaholin and Siddikov clearly the strongest, distancing the other breakaway riders!
The two leaders reach the end of secteur pavé 8 with 1’30” over any other breakaway rider! Nice gap, let’s see what happens in the peloton.
Gamper with a big move, as he catches all other breakaway riders at the end of the cobbles! Stokbro, Chokri and Mestric the first riders in his wheel!
The two leaders survive sector 7 together, a short sector of two stars. 46 km to the finish line, and now around 20 km without cobbles. Let’s see what the situation behind them is.
At 1’25” we find four remaining breakaway riders: Van Niekerk, Suter, Van Moer and Foss.
And right behind them we see a group of 17 favourites, led by Gamper! The other names in this group of favourites are Siric, Chokri, Lauk, Stokbro, Mestric, Kanter, Ovsyannikov, Kooistra, Jacobs, Meeus, Kiskonen, Philipsen, Stavrakakis, Dekker, Welten, Per.
40 km to the finish line as the two chasing groups melt together. Siric setting the pace for leader Mestric, as the time difference with the two leaders is currently 1’10”.
Gamper and Chokri seem to be feeling really well, as they also take over in the chase. 28 km to go and the difference is 30”. We are close to starting sector six, who is going to win this already very interesting Paris – Roubaix Espoirs?!
Not Siric! He is the only rider getting dropped in the group of favourites on sector six, as they still trail the two leaders by 30 seconds! 25 km left and five cobbled sectors left!
Sector 5 also not too long and relatively easy cobbles, still Gamper and Chokri at the head of the peloton setting the pace hoping to drop other riders, but so far everyone able to hold on! The two leaders 20” ahead of them.
Sector 4, Camphin-en-Pévèle! 1.8 km to go, four stars! Only 200 meters after this also the infamous Carrefour de l’Arbre! Time to create some gaps, as the group of favourites is only just behind Assaholin and Siddikov!
Terrible news for Jacobs, as the Swiss (/Belgian) rider suffers a puncture! He won’t be winning Paris – Roubaix Espoirs!
Gamper going for it, splits are starting to occur! The two breakaway riders nowhere to be seen anymore, as Mestric is next to the Lierse rider, and Lauk, Chokri and Ovsyannikov in the best position to follow those two!
Lauk unable to keep up, but eight others do manage to stay in the wheel of the Austrian and the other riders mentioned above! Those are Meeus, Stavrakakis, Stokbro, Kiskonen, Philipsen, Welten, Per and Kanter! No time to rest though, as the Carrefour de l’Arbre is right around the corner!
Mestric now with an attack while not leaving his saddle, only Chokri, Gamper and Ovsyannikov able to follow him so far!
Stokbro is the only one to make the move forwards, but right when he reaches the first four, Ovsyannikov can’t follow the other three anymore!
The leaders reach the end of the Carrefour de l’Arbre with a 20” lead over the two chasers, and an additional 20” over the other favourites! 500 meters to go and we find ourselves on sector two already!
1.1 km and only two stars, Mestric and the other two leaders keep Stokbro and Ovsyannikov at 20”, while the other chasers lose additional time!
Massive move by the Dane, as he reaches the three leaders with 9.5 km to go, leaving Ovsyannikov behind just before the final cobbled sector of the day! The Zalgiris rider already 40” further down the road, as Dekker has joined him in the battle for fifth!
Oh, the drama! The final sector is 1.4 km long and only two stars, and Mestric suffers a puncture! The Swisslion rider seemed to be feeling really good, but this is definitely an au revoir to his dream of winning Paris – Roubaix Espoirs! Heartbreaking!
Two more hearts are about to be broken now, as the three leaders enter the final 5 km and enter the mythical Velodrome in Roubaix! Everyone else more than a minute behind and solo or in a group of two, surely the winner will come from these three!
The bell is ringing, the riders into their last lap! Last 3 km and Gamper in the lead ahead of Stokbro and Chokri!
2 km left and the same positions! Mestric in fourth position in the back, after his flat tyre saw him dropping to eighth. Impressive stuff by the Croatian, but he won’t be able to close this big of a gap anymore.
Final km, final turn! Thrilling finale!
Stokbro was ready to start his sprint on the right side of Gamper, but it’s Chokri who surprises both of them on the inside!
Chokri still in the lead with 300 meters to go, Gamper coming closer slowly!
But he’s running out of road! 100 meters to go, still Chokri!
The Bralirwa rider doesn’t need a finish line, he is sure he has won the race!
And he does! Chokri with the win of his career, with Gamper in second and Stokbro in third!
A disappointed Mestric comes in fourth.
Kanter snatches fifth away from Dekker, with Welten in seventh, Ovsyannikov in eighth, Per ninth and Philipsen tenth. Other places in the top -20 go to Meeus (11th), Kiskonen (12th), Van Niekerk (13th), Lauk (14th), Assaholin (15th), Jacobs (16th), Siddikov (17th), Van Moer (18th), Stavrakakis (19th) and Suter (20th). Kooistra just behind in 21nd. Then the gaps get big, with nobody else coming close to the first 21 riders. Fung comes in last, at 1h58’ of winner Chokri.
That was it for Paris - Roubaix Espoirs, sadly no results as I forgot to export, but since there are no points I guess that's fine. Congratulations to Bralirwa!
