Paris-Roubaix 2019

The road

At the start

Compiègne, and a sector with a new name

Twenty-nine sectors and 54.5 kilometres of pavé lie between here and the velodrome — and the second of them carries a new name this year, Secteur Michael Goolaerts, for the rider who died on these roads twelve months ago. Deceuninck-QuickStep arrive without a defending champion for the first time since 2013, leaning on Štybar and Lampaert, with an illness-hit Philippe Gilbert down as a wildcard.

How it was won

1. 1100 km to go

   Chaos before Arenberg

   The race is already in pieces on the run to the forest: Sagan loses Daniel Oss to a crash, Kristoff punctures again, and on the Haveluy sector the split groups merge — though Kristoff misses the cut and Matej Mohorič crashes out just before the Trench.

2. 292 km to go

   Trouée d'Arenberg

   Van Avermaet leads the bunch onto the dead-straight pavé through the forest gloom. As they hit the cobbles Wout van Aert swerves out with a mechanical, switches to a teammate's bike forty seconds down, and launches a furious lone chase back through the sectors.

3. 350 km to go

   Sagan detonates the race

   On the Auchy-à-Bersée cobbles Peter Sagan puts the hammer down, ripping a group off the front with Van Aert, Gilbert, Politt and Lampaert. When it merges with the leaders, an elite six is clear heading into the final fifty kilometres.

4. 445 km to go

   Mons-en-Pévèle

   The six leaders storm across the five-star Mons-en-Pévèle with half a minute on a twenty-strong chase. Stuyven and Van Avermaet try to bridge but Štybar smothers them — the winner will come from these six.

5. 514 km to go

   Carrefour de l'Arbre

   On the last five-star sector, the cruellest of them all, Deceuninck-QuickStep attack in waves — Lampaert then Gilbert — but Sagan is alert to every dig. Van Aert is spat out the back; the race for the Hell of the North boils down to a handful of men across the flying pavé.

6. 613 km to go

   Politt and Gilbert go clear

   At Gruson, Nils Politt hits out and only Philippe Gilbert can follow. Sagan, Vanmarcke and Lampaert can't close, the gap yawns open, and with twelve kilometres to run Roubaix becomes a two-man race.

7. 7At the line

   Gilbert wins on the boards

   Onto the Roubaix velodrome the two survivors of a savage day come together, and Gilbert times his sprint to perfection to beat Politt — a fourth different Monument, and one step from the full set.

The result