The Dane animates the race for more than 100 kilometers.
The 121th edition of the “Hell of the North” had the usual ingredients: 259.7 kilometers, 29 cobblestone sectors and lots of attacks from kilometers zero. All these made for the fastest edition in the history of the French Monument, a stunning average speed being set by the winner.
Right from the start, as the peloton exited the neutral zone, the moves began coming from those who wanted to join the breakaway. After some twenty furious kilometers, a strong group formed, and Kasper Asgreen – riding his fifth Paris-Roubaix – was there for Soudal Quick-Step. At the same time as the group was building its gap, a crash took place in the bunch, Tim Merlier being among those involved. The Scheldeprijs winner could continue the race, but the crash took its toll on him and Merlier was dropped from the peloton when the speed went up on the first pavé sectors of the day.
Asgreen was the most active rider in the front group, putting in some strong accelerations that helped them remain at the front for more than one hundred kilometers. After he got caught, the Dane stayed with the reduced field until the Arenberg, where some big attacks split the group, leaving only a couple of riders in the lead, and from there, later in the race, Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) emerged to take the win. Yves Lampaert, a former top-three finisher here, was the first Soudal Quick-Step rider home.
“I knew my best chance was to get in the break and I was hoping this would help me be up there in the finale. Unfortunately, some teams pulled hard and didn’t give us too many chances, bringing the move back long before the Arenberg. The race was too hard for what I had in the legs, but I gave everything”, said Kasper after the race.
Photo credit: ©Dario Belingheri / Getty Images
