ADylan von Barley, exhausted, leaned against the handle and buried his face in his hands in disbelief. The Dutch professional cyclist won the fastest Paris-Roupox in Easter Sunday history and celebrated the biggest success of his career with the victory of “Hell of the North”.
At an average speed of 45.792 km / h, Van Barley crossed the finish line as a soloist on the famous Rubik’s Velotrom. Wood van Eird of Belgium was second only to Stephen Kung of Switzerland. Former champion John Dekonkolf was ranked 18th best German, Nils Palit 22nd.
254.5 km with 30 cobblestone sections
“I could not believe it when I went into the velotrome alone. I saw where the others were. But I was alone. It was insane, ”said Van Barley after a journey of 254.5 kilometers in 30 stone sectors. Two weeks ago, the 29-year-old Flanders had to settle for second place on the tour. Now he made a big leap. As usual, the cup was a big stone.
In Saturday’s women’s event, Italy’s champion Elisa Longo Borgini won the singles title over Belgium’s Lotte Kobeki and the Netherlands’ Lucinda. After 124.7 km, Romy Caspar finished 19th in the second edition of the women’s race, the best German.
As fast as possible, on the stones: Dylan von Barley near Paris-Roubax
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Image: EPA
The men’s race still picked up speed at a distance of 200km / h. The British team Inios-Grenadiers drove through the air ridge and formed a leading team of more than 70 riders. Favorites Mathieu van der Poel, van Aert and Kasper Asgreen missed the attack just as Degenkolb did. But Palit was in the lead.
The team took the lead for more than a minute, but due to numerous accidents and setbacks the race had to be rescheduled after a disgraceful field in the Arenberg jungle. The trio of Matej Mohoric, Tom Devriendt and Laurent Pichon led the race with a good 80km, while the favorites were two minutes behind the field.
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Mohorik, in particular, known for his long escape, made the stars of the race anxious. After all, the Slovenian has already celebrated victories with a bold escape in the Tour de France and Milan-Sanremo. Van Airt personally increased the speed to 57 km / h, which eventually left Deconcolp and Polt.
In the brutal five-star Mons-en-Pévèle sector, von Airt competed again, and the team of top riders shrank again. However, the Belgian champion was unable to bring the race under control. His teammates Yves Lampaert and Dutchman Dylan van Baarle took the lead for over 40 seconds and formed a strong new team with Mohorik and Devriant.
Although Flanders winner Van der Boyle was finally trailing, Van Eird never looked back. Shortly before the 2100-meter-long Carrefour de l’Arbre in one of the toughest fields, Van Barley finally pulled away and did not let the victory snatch him away.
