Paris-Roubaix 2015 in Black & White

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 tired post-race face for Mathew Hayman - Photo Credit : Kramon

Already the winner this year at La Primavera, John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) added another monument of cycling to his mantelpiece by conquering Paris-Roubaix, under wonderful spring sunshine. The current Swiss national champion managed to snag a superb 5th place in the final sprint while in the meantime Belgian Jens Keukeleire has recorded ORICA-GreenEDGE’s best result at a cobbled classic, finishing sixth at Paris-Roubaix, the ‘Queen of the Classics’, on Sunday the 12th.

The ‘Hell of the North’ set off in conditions anything but. Sun and a tail wind made for fast opening to racing as the peloton covered over 50km in the first hour. After numerous attempts, most covered by an ORICA-GreenEDGE rider, the day’s main break with Blythe established and extended towards a ten-minute lead before the peloton reacted ahead of the first cobbled sector.

The early morning breakaway - Photo Credit : Kramon

In a strong day on the road, Briton Adam Blythe and Latvian Aleksejs Saramotins were part of the day’s major break, animating the race in support of the IAM Cycling and ORICA-GreenEDGE teams’ objectives. The Latvian impressed everyone with his strength as he gapped all his companions riding through the legendary Arenberg trench. After more than 210 kilometers off the front, Saramotins, who now makes his home in Nice, still managed to take 13th place among all the race favorites.

Despite the pressure, the peloton remained in tact for a large portion of proceedings before wind and crashes caused it to break apart.

“They always told me it’s a really amazing feeling riding into the velodrome,” Keukeleire said. “I have done it many times but not with the front group. No matter how bad I felt in the final, you always have to keep believing and I tried my best but I just didn’t have any legs. It’s a pretty amazing feeling riding for the win.”

The day was not without drama for the Belgian, who suffered a puncture in the middle of the famous Arenberg Forest sector. Quickly serviced by teammate Sam Bewley with a wheel, the Belgian fought back to the front chase group.

More and more pavés at Paris-Roubaix - Photo Credit : Kramon

“There was a lot more wind than I expected and a lot of the sectors were a head wind of the cobble sectors and I think that is what kept it close for such a long time, Keuekeleire said. But cobblestones are cobblestones, you have to get over them and they always hurt.”

Martin Elmiger received a hero’s welcome, not only by Michel Thétaz, CEO of IAM Funds and founder of the IAM Cycling team, but also by all his teammates and members of staff, when he arrived at the team bus after the race.  Yet Elmiger still managed to find the joke when explaining the tactics he adopted in the final.

“I am not a champion; after all I finished second to last in the sprint.  But seriously, everything worked really well for me today.  The team once again worked amazingly well together.  I did not suffer any punctures, and just had to deal with a small mechanical early one, so I was able to rejoin the front of the race before the real fighting began.   In the end, I opted to count on Boom taking his sprint from far out, which didn’t happen.  But still, I am very happy with 5thplace.  I did ride into the velodrome with the group vying for the win.  In the last few kilometers, I just had to hang on because I was pretty burnt.”

Gallery photo credits : TDWSport.com