Paris-Roubaix 2017 [FULL RACE]

April 09, 2017
Paris-Roubaix 2017– Compiegne – Choisy-au-Bac – Roubaix : 257 km

The 2017 Paris–Roubaix was a road cycling one-day race that took place on 9 April 2017. It was the 115th edition of the Paris–Roubaix and was the fifteenth event of the 2017 UCI World Tour.

Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) finally has his Monument after claiming victory in a breathless edition of Paris-Roubaix, the fastest in the race’s history.

At various junctures, the cause seemed lost, and even on the final lap of the velodrome, it briefly appeared as though the Belgian had squandered his chance. This time, however, Van Avermaet was not to be denied, as he saw off Zdenek Stybar (Quick-Step Floors) and Sebastian Langeveld (Cannondale-Drapac) in the finishing sprint to shake off the very last vestiges of his nearly-man tag.

Tom Boonen (Quick-Step Floors), riding in his final race as a professional, was prominent throughout and part of the key selection that formed after Mons-en-Pévéle, but he was caught on the wrong side when the leading group split with 30 kilometres remaining. Despite showing flashes of his force of old on the Carrefour de l’Arbre, where he was willed on by an expectant public, he was unable to close the gap. He finished the race in the large chasing group that came home 12 seconds down on Van Avermaet, and ends his career level with Roger De Vlaeminck on four Paris-Roubaix victories.

The decisive move took shape in installments over one of the least fearsome sectors of cobbles, at Templeneuve with 30 kilometres to go, as Van Avermaet, Stybar and Langeveld joined Gianni Moscon (Sky), Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) and Jürgen Roelandts (Lotto Soudal) in pursuit of earlier attacker Daniel Oss (BMC). A lone chase attempt by world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) was interrupted by a puncture, and the septet out front quickly opened a lead of 30 seconds over the Boonen group behind.

Van Avermaet laid down a fierce acceleration on the jagged cobbles of the Carrefour de l’Arbre with 16 kilometres remaining and only Stybar and Langeveld were still with him out the other end, and that trio continued to augment its advantage over the rest of the field over the remaining three sectors of pavé.

Not even Stybar’s repeated refusal to contribute could stall their progress. When Stybar attacked his companions four kilometres from the velodrome, however, Van Avermaet’s ire was obvious as he shut down the move and then forced the Quick-Step man to close down Langeveld’s subsequent attack.

Perhaps unbeknownst to the three leaders, they had begun to fritter away their healthy lead over a chasing Moscon and Stuyven amid the ensuing game of cat and mouse. Van Avermaet led into the velodrome, and when Stybar almost brought them to a halt as he soft-pedalled to the top of the banking, Moscon and Stuyven were suddenly upon them.

Moscon had the gumption to attack immediately, and were it not for his obvious fatigue, his might have been a winning gap. Instead Stybar swooped down the banking in pursuit and then launched his sprint, but Stybar’s effort served only to lead out Van Avermaet, who claimed a decisive win, punching the air in relief as much as in joy as he crossed the line. The Olympic champion has been in a rich vein of form this spring, winning Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, E3 Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem and now Paris-Roubaix, and placing second at the Tour of Flanders for good measure.

“I didn’t think Paris-Roubaix was going to be the Monument for me,” Van Avermaet said afterwards. “In the end I was a bit afraid of Stybar because he wasn’t working with us. I’m really happy to have finally won a Monument because I’ve had a long wait for this.”

The Boonen chasing group swelled in size on the run-in and reached the finish just 12 seconds down on Van Avermaet, with Arnaud Démare (FDJ) winning the sprint for sixth ahead of André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) and Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo).

Van Avermaet’s average speed of 45.204kph was the fastest in the history of the race, outstripping the longstanding record set by Peter Post in 1964, when the race featured far fewer cobbled kilometres. The peloton was puffed along by a strong tailwind early on, but it was still a brutally difficult day of racing. No early break gained any real purchase before the first cobbles at Troisvilles, and there was scarcely a lull in the entire 260 kilometres.

Van Avermaet’s win was all the more notable given that he went down in a crash shortly before the Arenberg Forest, replaced his bike and then spent more than 20 kilometres chasing back on as Quick-Step turned the screws up ahead. Not for the first time this spring, he seemed to have ample energy to spare. “I had a bit of bad luck before the Arenberg but the team did good work,” he said. “Everybody was in the right place for me and Daniel Oss did really good work and everything came together for me.”

How it unfolded

The peloton left the Place Charles de Gaulle in Compiègne under pleasant sunshine and was puffed along by a tailwind that had seen the start delayed by 15 minutes in a bid to keep the finish to its originally scheduled time. More than 50.5 kilometres were covered in the first hour of racing as no break established itself and there was little let-up thereafter. The first break, featuring Yannick Martinez (Delko Marseille), Jelle Wallays (Lotto Soudal) and Mickaël Delage (FDJ), forged clear only just before the first sector of cobbles at Troisville and never had more than 45 seconds on the peloton.

On sector 28 – the second of 29, which count down to Roubaix – Oliver Naesen (AG2R), Lukasz Wiśniowski (Sky), Nicolas Dougall (Dimension Data) and Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Floors) went down in a crash, while shortly afterwards, Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Soudal) fell in another incident. Before the cobbles, meanwhile, Luke Durbridge (Orica-Scott) went down, though the Australian managed to bridge back up.

Shortly after sector 24, Stijn Vandenbergh (AG2R La Mondiale) attacked from the peloton and joined with Wallays and Delage at the front. At that point, Katusha-Alpecin were controlling affairs in the peloton. Meanwhile, 2014 winner Nikki Terpstra (Quick-Step Floors), already caught behind an earlier crash, hit the ground hard on the cobbles near Maing and abandoned soon afterwards.

Come the Trouée d’Arenberg, the three leaders had an advantage of almost a minute on the peloton, where Quick-Step had taken up the reins just as Van Avermaet crashed on the preceding section at Wallers. The Olympic champion had to close a 40-second gap to get back in the race.

Wallays and Vandenbergh rid themselves of Delage on the Arenberg, while Trentin and Katusha’s Tony Martin set the pace in the peloton, as Boonen, Sagan and Trek’s John Degenkolb followed. Van Avermaet found an ally of circumstance in puncture victim Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) on the other side of the forest and they eventually bridged back up.

Ahead of sector 18, Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie) attacked and enjoyed a brief rally off the front, but the first significant move came after sector 17 at Hornaing. With 75 kilometres remaining, Sagan ripped off the front with his teammate Maciej Bodnar, as well as Oss and Stuyven, opening up a gap of 30 seconds over the bunch. It was an ambitious attack from Sagan, but a puncture forced him and Bodnar out of the move, leaving Stuyven and Oss out in front.

With 60 kilometres to go, Oss and Stuyven had 30 seconds in hand on a 30-man group that included Boonen, Sagan and just about every real contender bar puncture victim Oliver Naesan. Sagan showed further aggression on the cobbles at Mons-en-Pévéle, helping to split the chasers and peg back Oss and Stuyven. With 40 kilometres to go, 15 men remained in front: Roelandts, Moscon, Oss, Van Avermaet, Stuyven, Degenkolb, Sagan, Boonen, Stybar, Langeveld, Chavanel, Jens Keukeleire (Orica-Scott), Dimitri Claeys (Cofidis), Dylan van Baarle (Cannondale-Drapac) and Bert De Backer (Sunweb).

On sector 9, Van Avermaet’s teammate Oss went up the road once again, and the Italian would prove a most useful foil in the finale. The flurry of attacks approaching Templeuve, triggered by Langeveld and Roelandts, helped to give shape to the winning move, as Van Avermaet, Stybar, Moscon and Stuyven came across. Sagan looked to follow, but suffered a most inopportune rear wheel puncture, and his challenge faded. Boonen, for his part, was caught on the wrong side of the split, and his dream of a valedictory win disappeared up the road, even if he raged against the dying of the light all the way to the gates of famous old velodrome.

It was instead left to Stybar to carry Quick-Step Floors’ hopes, but despite his persistence in using Boonen as a pretext not to work, the day – and the spring – belonged to Van Avermaet.

Results :
1 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 5:41:07
2 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors
3 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
4 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
5 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Sky
6 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ 0:00:12
7 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal
8 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
9 Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
10 John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
11 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica-Scott
12 Florian Senechal (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
13 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
14 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
15 Laurens De Vreese (Bel) Astana Pro Team
16 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
17 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
18 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
19 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie
20 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
21 Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team
22 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:20
23 Jelle Wallays (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:26
24 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:00:36
25 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:02:24
26 Marco Marcato (Ita) Team UAE Emirates
27 Nils Politt (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
28 Jonas Van Genechten (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
29 Koen De Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
30 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
31 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
32 Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Sunweb
33 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
34 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
35 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:01
36 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data 0:03:30
37 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:03:45
38 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:05:12
39 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:05:44
40 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar Team 0:07:12
41 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Movistar Team 0:09:41
42 Wouter Wippert (Ned) Cannondale-Drapac
43 Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ
44 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
45 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ
46 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
47 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
48 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
49 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb
50 Ryan Mullen (Irl) Cannondale-Drapac
51 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
52 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
53 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Dimension Data
54 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal
55 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
56 Miles Scotson (Aus) BMC Racing Team
57 Maxime Farazijn (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
58 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) FDJ
59 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky
60 Jorge Arcas Peña (Spa) Movistar Team
61 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
62 Gregory Rast (Swi) Trek-Segafredo
63 Hugo Houle (Can) AG2R La Mondiale
64 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data
65 Tom Scully (NZl) Cannondale-Drapac
66 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team
67 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Orica-Scott
68 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
69 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
70 William Clarke (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac
71 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Sunweb
72 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky
73 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team
74 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
75 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
76 Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
77 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:09:48
78 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:09:53
79 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:09:55
80 Wesley Kreder (Ned) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
81 Francis Mourey (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
82 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
83 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-Scott 0:14:06
84 Marc Sarreau (Fra) FDJ
85 Juraj Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:18:28
86 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
87 Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha-Alpecin
88 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors
89 Niccolo Bonifazio (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
90 Alexander Edmonson (Aus) Orica-Scott 0:20:44
91 Mitch Docker (Aus) Orica-Scott
92 Truls Korsaeth (Nor) Astana Pro Team
93 David Per (Slo) Bahrain-Merida
94 Amund Grondahl Jansen (Nor) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
95 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
96 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
97 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data
98 Julien Vermote (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
99 Matti Breschel (Den) Astana Pro Team
100 Boris Vallee (Bel) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
101 Luka Pibernik (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:20:50
102 Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data 0:27:12
OTL Berden De Vries (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij 0:30:49
OTL Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
OTL Ion Insausti (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
OTL Tyler Farrar (USA) Dimension Data
OTL Patrick Bevin (NZl) Cannondale-Drapac 0:32:06
OTL Borut Bozic (Slo) Bahrain-Merida 0:32:19
OTL Owain Doull (GBr) Team Sky 0:33:44
OTL Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
OTL Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
OTL Erwann Corbel (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
OTL Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:34:01
OTL Loic Chetout (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:34:17
OTL Daniel Mclay (GBr) Fortuneo – Vital Concept 0:34:28
OTL Twan Castelijns (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:34:30
OTL Brian Van Goethem (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij 0:38:49
OTL Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie
OTL Taco Van Der Hoorn (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
OTL Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:45:19
OTL Jonathan Dibben (GBr) Team Sky 0:46:45
DNF Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-Scott
DNF Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-Scott
DNF Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) Orica-Scott
DNF Tim Declercq (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
DNF Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick-Step Floors
DNF Luke Rowe (GBr) Team Sky
DNF Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky
DNF Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Team Sky
DNF Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Cannondale-Drapac
DNF Nick Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data
DNF Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Dimension Data
DNF Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal
DNF Matthias Brändle (Aut) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Michal Kolár (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Martin Elmiger (Swi) BMC Racing Team
DNF Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team
DNF Francisco Ventoso (Spa) BMC Racing Team
DNF Lars Boom (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
DNF Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Team LottNl-Jumbo
DNF Robert Wagner (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
DNF Nuno Matos (Por) Movistar Team
DNF Héctor Carretero (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team
DNF Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) FDJ
DNF Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) FDJ
DNF Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) FDJ
DNF Antoine Duchesne (Can) Direct Energie
DNF Yohann Gene (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Tony Hurel (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Julien Morice (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Rudy Barbier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
DNF Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Team Sunweb
DNF Zico Waeytens (Bel) Team Sunweb
DNF Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Sunweb
DNF Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Michael Morkov (Den) Katusha-Alpecin
DNF Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Benjamin Declercq (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Stijn Steels (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
DNF Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Riccardo Minali (Ita) Astana Pro Team
DNF Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
DNF Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Mark Mcnally (GBr) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Maxime Daniel (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
DNF Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
DNF Andre Looij (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
DNF Elmar Reinders (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
DNF Coen Vermeltfoort (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
DNF Ivan Garcia (Spa) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Meiyin Wang (Chn) Bahrain-Merida
DNF Sacha Modolo (Ita) Team UAE Emirates
DNF Matteo Bono (Ita) Team UAE Emirates
DNF Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Team UAE Emirates
DNF Andrea Guardini (Ita) Team UAE Emirates
DNF Marko Kump (Slo) Team UAE Emirates
DNF Oliviero Troia (Ita) Team UAE Emirates
DNF Federico Zurlo (Ita) Team UAE Emirates
DNF Yannick Martinez (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
DNF Mikel Aristi (Spa) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
DNF Benjamin Giraud (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
DNF Martin Laas (Est) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
DNF Romain Lemarchand (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
DNF Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
DNF Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Delko Marseille Provence KTM