On the world’s most famous one-day race, only the strongest and luckiest survive.
In spite of a flurry of activity at the start, the breaks failed to stick, the constant attacking stringing out the peloton and reaching average speeds of more than 50kmh. As the Tranchée d‘Arenberg loomed close on the horizon, Peter Sagan was riding near the front of the peloton. From 77km out, the Slovak rider went on the attack, testing both his own legs and his rivals, only to cruelly suffer a puncture. After working hard to bridge back to the chasing group, Peter Sagan was once again the victim of a flat tyre.
“It was a very tough and very fast Paris-Roubaix”, said Sagan. “My teammates did a great job all day long, but I suffered from punctures at critical moments when I was in a good position in the front of the race, attacking. As I said before, in order to win Paris-Roubaix you need more than good form and legs. However, that’s part of cycling and we will try next year.”
“An unlucky campaign? I lost Milan-San Remo. At the Tour of Flanders, I made a mistake and then today I was unlucky.”
“I’m happy with my form, but not with the results. I can’t be happy with the results I got,” said Sagan. “You’re always tired after Paris-Roubaix and today I’m very tired. But the season continues. I’ll take a bit of a break now and then I’ll get going again at the Tour of California. Then I’ll have important races like the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de France.”
