It was to be chaos on the cobblestones at the Tour de France today, and with the last five Paris-Roubaix winners in the peloton, the recreation of the Queen of the Classics was bound to be one of the most exciting days of the whole race. With experienced Classics riders mixing with GC riders who would simply want to stay safe, the day was a spectacular event filled with attacking riding and lots of crashes. Staying safe throughout, UCI World Champion, Peter Sagan, took fifth spot to add to his points total. With the whole BORA-hansgrohe team riding hard to bring him back into contention after being caught up in two crashes, Rafał Majka finished with the bunch, moving from eighth to sixth in the overall standings ahead of the first – and richly-deserved – rest day.
The Stage
Today was going to be thrilling for fans and riders alike – a miniature version of Paris-Roubaix at the Tour de France. The all-rounders and classics riders would have a chance to shine on the 156.5km parcours, while the GC riders would be fighting to make it safely through the day. The fifteen sectors of pavé – the famed cobblestones – would make the riding exceptionally difficult. Some of these sectors were used in the 2018 edition of Paris-Roubaix, while others would only feature in the Tour de France. This was the last day before the race’s first rest day, and so this could well be a day when riders would put everything on the line before making the most of tomorrow to recover.
The Team Tactics
This being a recreation of a Spring Classic, it would be almost impossible to predict the day’s outcome. While the BORA-hansgrohe team had the reigning Paris-Roubaix champion riding – the UCI World Champion, Peter Sagan – the tactics had to be entirely different today. With the terrain of the second week suiting the GC riders, it was essential that Rafał Majka make it through the day safely to fight on next week, and on these exceptionally difficult roads, the Polish rider had to have the whole team’s support to make it through the day unscathed. Peter would have the freedom to ride his own race and would take any opportunities that came his way as the day progressed.
The Race
It wasn’t long after the flag dropped that the break formed, with two small groups combining and with nearly 50km before the first section of cobblestones, the escapees took every chance to build up their lead, however, they were never able to exceed four minutes. This group of ten at the front passed through the intermediate sprint, before the BORA-hansgrohe team, led by Peter Sagan, took the remainder of the points, both adding to his total and denying his rivals in the points contest the chance to gain on him. Rallying around Rafał, the team did an exceptional job of protecting the Polish GC rider, as the cobblestone sections came closer together and became longer and more difficult. A crash 65km out caught Rafał, but the BORA-hansgrohe riders rallied around their GC leader and brought him back to the front group in an incredible team effort. The difficulty of the stage was really hitting the break hard as they dropped in number, while attacks from the peloton after the longest sector of pavé saw Peter join a select lead group with some classics specialists among them. With 20km remaining, the break had only fifteen seconds in hand, the lead group making the catch before the push for the finish started – attack after attack came, with Peter working every time to shut them down. With 15km remaining, three managed to make their move stick, among them the Maillot Jaune, and with Peter left in the chasing group it was going to be a fight for points for the UCI World Champion. Holding the bunch at bay to stop the GC riders taking time from Rafał and taking fifth in the sprint for the remaining places, Peter supplemented his points lead, while Rafał finished safely with the GC riders, climbing to sixth in the overall standings after an excellent performance on a difficult parcours.
Results
01 J. Degenkolb 4:23:36
02 G. Van Avermaet +0:00
03 Y. Lampaert +0:00
04 P. Gilbert +0:19
05 P. Sagan +0:19
30 R. Majka +0:27
From the Finish Line
“The stage today to Roubaix was like Paris-Roubaix in April but also different. It was just as harsh, tough and tricky but it was different because we also had to work for Rafał Majka’s GC chances. I think we did a very good job. I was at the front in all the pavé sectors, except one, and when Rafał was caught up in two crashes and lost contact with the front group, all the guys put a great effort to bring him back each time. We can be satisfied with what we achieved.” – Peter Sagan, UCI World Champion
“It was a very hard and stressful day. I am happy because I had a really strong team next to me when it mattered. After both crashes, the BORA-hansgrohe guys brought me up again and thanks to them I finished in Roubaix among the GC favourites. Luckily, I am not really hurt, so everything looks good for the first mountain stages to come.” – Rafał Majka
“As expected, it was a crazy day with lots of crashes. Our boys did a great job, we pulled a lot to stay in front and out of trouble, but unfortunately, we couldn’t avoid all crashes. We lost Daniel because he was caught up too long in the crash and Rafa went down the first time as well. Marcus and Bodi brought Rafa back and when he crashed again, Marcus was still with him. So, in the end, we had to sacrifice all our power to keep Rafa in the race for the GC and we couldn’t support Peter in the finale anymore. Still, we can be happy at the end of the first part of the Tour. The team did a great job every day, we took two stages, Peter is in Green, and Rafał is already 6th in the GC. I am proud of what we achieved so far in this Tour.” – Enrico Poitschke, Sports Director
